HISTORY 


OF  THE 


EW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 


CHARLESTON 

SOUTH  CAROLINA 


1819-1919 


WILLIAM  WAY 


Mass.,    1630;   preliminary   edn,   under  father: 
Med.   Coll.   of   Va.,   1S84;   M.D.,   Vanderbilt  U., 
18S6;   licensed   to   practice,   18S5,   at  age   of  19, 
after  passing  exam,  in  class  of  53,  before  State 
Bd.  of  N.C.,  making  highest  grade  of  class;  m. 
Marietta  Welch,  of  Waynesville,  N.C.,  July  3, 
ISSS.    In  practice  at  Waynesville,  1886 — ;  par 
ticular  attention  to  tuberculosis;  local  surgeon 
Southern   Ry.    State  med.  exam.  Royal  Arca- 
num for  N.C.  Charter  mem.  and  dir.  First  Nat. 
Bank  (Waynesville),  Champion  Bank  (Canton, 
N.C),  Bryson  (N.C.)  City  Bank.    Mem.  State?; 
Bd.  Med.  Examiners,  1897-1902,  State  Bd.  Health, 
1905—  (pres.  1911—);  trustee  Trinity  Coll.,  N.C' 
Pres.  N.C.  State  Med.  Soc,  1908,  Tri-State  Med.| 
Assn.,  1911-12;  mem.  Internat.  Congress  Tuber- 
culosis, 1908;   mem.  A.M. A.,   Am.   Pub.   Health 
Assn.,  Southern  Medical  Assn.,  etc.   Democrat.! 
Methodist.   Mason  (32°,  Shriner).   Editor  Trans. 
N.C.    State   Med.    Soc,   1904,  5,   6,  8,   Tri-State 
Assn.,  1906-12.   Contbr.  on  med.  subjects.   Com- 
md.  capt.,  Med.  R.C.,  Apr.  9,  1917;  maj.,  Apr. 
-  19,  1918;  It.   col..   May  21,  1919;  active  service, 
Aug.    15,    1917-Mar.    20,    1919,    when    hon.    dis- 
charged,   with   recommn.   in    O.R.C.     Detailed 
TOO?-  ^urgeon  U.S.P.H.S.  in  charge  Vets.  Bur. 
i:/:,  %m~ -»ifr;--ui%;ii:vnesville,    N.C,    Apr.   25, 
of  the  World  War    SR     ■i>*  ""-"^^r^^.  Vets 
WAY  ■  ^'aynesville,! 

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and Martha  A  Vht  '  ^^'^  *•  Alfred  Bvron 
(Mich.)  ColL,  ^894  Ph°^r  V  P\?.-.  AlS 
Ph.D.,  u.  of  Wis  iQ/ie  •'  ^-  of  Mich.,  1S96- 
Cberry,,of  GraSdVven'  MU^''^^'''''  J™! 
|Sna^feS62?Jj^f?^'-'^c^-1s9S- 


jory  Assn..  Am  Pniif  q'  ■  ^-  ^^«^™-  Am.  His- 
Internat.  Law  "w^^ '^ ^^'^S,^^  ^^s?..  Am!  Soc. 
pa  Republican.  ConS  Tr;'  ^^^  Beta  Kap- 
hist.  topics.   ^ome°BfMt,^^''^°-    Contbr.  on  . 

^^^J'^I:T4  ^'Vs^r^e  utilities;  J 
and  Ellen  Lord  tbewev)  4'  •  ^,^"son  Bedell  : 
engr.,  Drexel  Insi!  p^la  'nlfi^'"  ^^^P^-  e'ec  r 
myra  Bauer  of  ^l  t  ■•'  ,^^6;  m.  Lillie  FT 
Draftsman  '^nd  erectto^'l'n^^'^-' r^o^-  28  1899'  . 
age  Battery  Co.,  PhHa^  iTqf;-A  Electric 'stor   I 

1902,  with  other  cos^' Cm^,iS\  ^■°.^«olida?i^n!  j 
trie  Light  &  Power  Co    w?,f  ^^"^  pnion  Elce- '' 

tentee  various  deviopcf  w     (Milwaukee).     Pa- i 
trie  and  street  rT'^lerSil'^'^AlP'^^^t  of  elec-f 
Inst.  E.E.  Republican.  Bantis^M•   "'*^'"-  ^m. 
Milwaukee,    Milwaukee    //>^?*;-^^^^oii-  Chtl).^- < 
-Milwaukee'  CounTrv,   Ti-in1,j?' -»J'^'.  Universitv 
Home:  551  Lake  Drir«     ?>«'  ^^acine  CountrV 


^D;  Salisbury,   N.C.,  1914. 


IS  ^'c-I  "iv  ''^*-  Luke's 
1»,   St.   Mary's  Sch., 


Raleigh,  N.C.,  since  Aug.  1918.  Chmn.  Salis- 
bury Chapter  A.K.C.,  .July  1917-18.  Studied  U. 
Chicago,  summers  1922,  23.  Mem.  Diocesan  Bd. 
Religious  Edn.;  chmn.  bd.  of  examining  chap- 
^^'"«.  Diocese  N.C.  Address:  St.  Marys  School, 
Raleieh.  N.C. 


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WAY,  William,  clergyman;  b.  Asheville,  N.C., 
Dec.  IS.  ISTO;  s.  Charles  Burr  aud  Martba  Julia 
(UowcU)  W.;  bro.  of  .loseph  i^owoll  \\.  (-M-). 
Asheville  llish  Sch.  ami  Kavenscroft  HiK^  s>ch. 
Asheville;  Gen.  Theol.  KeiLunary  1  Oi-  "'^^I 
vard  Summer  School  of  'ihcology,  IW'.  »•  1»' 
D.D..  Uuivcrsity  of  South  t  arolma,  19-1,  m. 
Marie  Wagener,  of  Charlostou,  S  C.,  i.\u.  i^, 
1904  Deactu,  lUOl,  priest,  IWl.  Episcoinil  Cu 
asst.  (Trace  Ch..  N'e|  York.  l^^^'^^^^'^'^Y/r.^e^L'r 
Ch.,  Charleston.  S.C,  May  1,  }^^-  \]^^^^^^^ 
Clemson  Coll..  1907-9,  U.  ol«C.,191o  Converse 
Coll  1914.  U.  of  N.C.  and  S.C.  Mil.  Coll.,  19-i. 
Dem  ChaVleston  Cle*ieus.  1907;  trustee  Diocese 

of  S.C;  dep.  to  Gen.  Couv.  I'res.  N.b.  ^ '<-;«/ 
Charlestmi\authorofitslustory)     Maso     (32 

K  T  Shriuer).  Author:  The  Old  Exchange  ana 
Cusumi  House,  1921 :  History  <>/ «!•«%  Vt'r\us' 
Charleston,  S.C;  The  St,.ry  "f  j^o  I'oitiaits. 
//owe;  Grace  Church  Ueclory,  Cliarlestuu.  S.C. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 
OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


NATHANIEL    KUbbtUL 


HISTORY 

OF  THE 

NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

FOR 

ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS 

1819-1919 

COMPILED  FROM  ORIGINAL  SOURCES 
BY 

WILLIAM  WAY 

Rector  of  Grace  Episcopal  Church,  Charleston 

and  Ninth   President  of  the 

Neiv  England  Society 


I      >  1  .   " 


CHARLESTON 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY 

1920 


Copyright  iq2o  By 

The  New  England  Society  of  Charleston 

South  Carolina 


Published  April  1920 


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Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  ol  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


INTRODUCTION 

The   New   England   Society   having   decided 
'with  its  usual  good  judgment  that  its  hundredth 
anniversary  should  be  marked  by  the  publication 
w   of  a  history  of  the  Society  and  its  century  of  use- 
^   fulness,  its  president,  the  Reverend  William  Way, 
^   to   whom   the  preparation   of    the   history   was 
intrusted,  has  requested  me,  as  president  of  the 
South  Carolina  Historical  Society,  to  write  a  few 
words  by  way  of  introduction. 
w         The  president  has  wisely   chosen   to   allow, 
S  wherever  possible,  the  members  and  guests  of  the 
Society  and  their  contemporaries  to  describe  in 
3    their  own  words  the  work  done  by  the  Society 
o     during  its  life.     The  book  will  therefore  be  found 
^     a  perfect  treasure-house  of   the  thoughts,   cus- 
5     toms,  manners,  and  speech,  during  that  period,  of 
3     the  city  of  Charleston,  and  of  a  much  wider  circle 
outside  its  limits.    For  the  Society  has  been  much 
more  than  a  local  benevolent  and  social  associa- 
tion, great  as  its  work  has  been  in  the  field  of  good- 
fellowship  and  charitable  work.     It  is  next  to  the 
oldest  New  England  society  in  existence,  and  is 


443246 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

known  and  respected  throughout  the  United 
States  and  wherever  there  are  descendants  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers.  Indeed,  many  of  the  speakers 
at  the  anniversary  celebration  seem  to  find  it  an 
interesting  and  attractive  fact  that  a  flourishing 
society  of  New  England  men  should  exist  in  a 
state  like  South  Carolina  and  in  a  city  like 
Charleston.  Yet  those  who  know  our  city  well 
know  that  we  have  always  admired  those  who 
boldly  think  for  themselves,  even  when  differing 
in  opinion  from  most  of  the  community.  Securely 
intrenched  in  our  own  views,  we  have  rather  liked 
and  encouraged  frank  criticism  by  distinguished 
men  from  elsewhere.  As  was  said  to  a  visitor 
invited  to  speak  at  one  of  the  annual  banquets, 
and  who  seemed  doubtful  whether  his  somewhat 
heretical  political  views  would  be  acceptable, 
"Whatever  you  say  will  be  acceptable,  provided 
you  say  it  well." 

It  was  the  New  England  Society  which  first 
introduced  in  Charleston  the  practice  of  inviting 
men  like  Daniel  Webster,  William  Everett,  Josiah 
Quincy,  George  F.  Hoar,  and  Charles  Francis 
Adams  to  join  with  our  own  citizens,  such  as 
Chief  Justice  Benjamin  Faneuil  Dunkin,  WilHam 
Crafts,  James  L.  Petigru,  Professor  John  Edwards 


INTRODUCTION  vu 

Holbrook,  and  the  Reverend  Dr.  Samuel  Gilman, 
in  celebrating  the  anniversaries  of  the  Society.  It 
was  a  good  custom,  and  has  been  followed  by 
other  societies.  Let  us  hope  that  it  will  always  be 
continued.  The  sketches  of  the  lives  of  the  presi- 
dents and  other  distinguished  members  of  the 
Society,  terse  and  well  written,  will  serve  to  recall 
the  names  of  men  thoroughly  identified  with  the 
life  of  Charleston,  and  generally  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  business  and  professional  life,  and  of 
others  well  known  in  science  and  literature.  Of 
the  eight  presidents  of  the  Society  in  one  hundred 
years,  all  died  in  office,  and  their  average  age  at 
death  was  seventy-eight  years.  The  combina- 
tion of  conservatism  and  vigor  is  typical  of  the 

Society  itself. 

Joseph  W.  Barnwell 


PAGE 


CONTENTS 

Origin  and  Organization        -       -       -  i 

Purpose 8 

The  Presidents 25 

Distinguished  Members  -        -        -        -  75 

The  Visit  of  Daniel  Webster       -        -  188 

The  Civil  War 211 

Famous  Dinners       -----  268 

The  Centennial  Celebration        -        -  276 

Index 301 


IZ 


ORIGIN  AND  ORGANIZATION 

The  official  date  of  the  organization  of  the  New 
England  Society  of  Charleston,  South  CaroUna,  is 
the  sixth  of  January,  eighteen  hundred  and  nine- 
teen. This  fact  is  verified  by  the  following  adver- 
tisement which  appeared  simultaneously  in  two 
leading  newspapers  published  in  Charleston  on 
January  6,  1819,  the  Courier  and  the  Patriot  and 
Commercial  Advertiser: 

New  England  Society. — A  meeting  of  these  gentle- 
men who  have  subscribed  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
charitable  and  benevolent  society  under  the  above  name 
is  requested  this  evening  at  half  past  six  o'clock  at  the 
Carolina  Coffee  House  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the 
same. 

The  Society  has  actually  been  in  session  for 
one  hundred  years.  It  has  taken  a  recess  at  the 
close  of  each  meeting,  but  has  never  adjourned  in 
its  entire  history.  In  this  respect  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  of  Charleston  is  unique  among  all 
other  American  organizations  of  a  similar  char- 
acter. 

The  Society  was  organized  at  the  Carolina 
Coffee  House,  located  on  the  corner  of  Tradd 


2  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Street  and  Bedon's  Alley,  which  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  sections  of  the  city.  This  coffee 
house  was  the  social  rendezvous  of  Charleston 
at  the  time.  The  great  social  functions  and 
entertainments  were  held  here.  When  President 
Monroe  visited  Charleston,  just  a  few  months 
after  the  organization  of  the  New  England  Society, 
he  was  entertained  by  the  Society  of  the  Cincin- 
nati at  this  famous  resort.  The  concerts  and 
balls  given  by  the  St.  Cecilia  Society  were  for 
many  years  held  at  the  Carolina  Coffee  House. 

Whereas  the  official  date  of  the  organization 
of  the  New  England  Society  of  Charleston  was 
January  6,  1819,  this,  however,  was  not  the  date 
of  the  origin  of  the  Society.  For  a  number  of 
years  previous  to  eighteen  hundred  and  nineteen 
the  Society  had  been  in  existence.  The  New 
Englanders  who  had  settled  in  Charleston  met 
regularly  on  Forefathers'  Day  for  the  purpose  of 
recalling  the  virile  virtues  of  their  ancestors,  for 
good-fellowship,  and  to  render  aid  to  their  less 
fortunate  brothers.  Such  gatherings  were  held 
at  the  homes  of  prominent  New  Englanders  or  at 
the  Carolina  Coffee  House.  The  citation  which 
follows  from  The  City  Gazette  and  Commercial 
Daily  Advertiser  of  January  8,  1819,  is  conclusive 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  3 

evidence    that    the    New    England    Society    of 
Charleston  existed  prior  to  January  6,  1819. 

The  New  England  Society. — At  a  meeting  of  a 
number  of  citizens  who  had  previously  associated  them- 
selves for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  charitable  and  benevo- 
lent society  with  this  title,  held  at  the  Carolina  Coffee 
House  on  Wednesday  evening  last,  January  6,  1819,  the 
following-named  gentlemen  were  elected  officers  for  the 
ensuing  year: 

Nathaniel  Russell,  President 
Joseph  Winthrop,  Vice-President 
F.  Shaw  Crocker,  Secty.  and  Treas. 

The  following  excerpt  from  an  address  deliv- 
ered by  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  S.  Vedder,  for  a  gener- 
ation president  of  the  New  England  Society, 
indicates  the  character  of  the  early  celebrations: 

A  handful  of  New  Englanders,  who  had  been  snowed 
out  from  under  the  lee  side  of  Plymouth  Rock,  or  who  for 
other  causes  had  decided  to  seek  a  warmer  and  more  con- 
genial chmate  under  the  balmy  skies  of  Carolina's  fair 
coast,  and  to  cast  their  fortunes  with  the  Sunny  South, 
got  together  and  organized  the  New  England  Society. 
Among  them  were  the  founders  of  some  of  the  sturdiest 
and  most  devoted  Carolina  families.  The  New  Eng- 
landers who  came  to  Charleston  in  those  days  were  gener- 
ally of  the  sturdy  sort,  men  who  transplanted  themselves 
to  the  fertile  soil  of  the  Palmetto  State  with  the  intention 
of  growing  up  with  her  destiny,  and  they  did  it,  as  the 


4  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

roll  of  the  Society  will  show.  The  New  Englanders  fell 
into  the  very  natural  and  patriotic  habit  of  gathering 
around  a  cheerful  fireplace  in  one  of  the  old-time  inns,  or 
at  the  residence  of  one  of  the  members  on  "Forefathers' 
Day,"  and  recalling  anew,  in  pledges  of  steaming  punch, 
the  glorious  memories  of  the  Mayflower  and  her  hardy 
and  God-fearing  passengers,  who  on  that  dark  and  freez- 
ing day  in  December  first  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock  after 
their  long  journey  to  the  promised  land  of  religious 
freedom. 

There  is  another  line  of  evidence  which  strongly 
indicates  the  existence  of  the  Society  prior  to  the 
date  of  official  organization,  namely,  the  fact  that 
the  Society  had  forty-seven  members  on  its  mem- 
bership roll  at  its  meeting,  January  6,  1819,  and 
that  it  added  twelve  more  members  to  the  list 
within  a  few  months.  This  is  strong  evidence, 
especially  when  it  is  taken  into  consideration  that 
there  was  a  comparatively  small  number  of  New 
Englanders  in  Charleston  at  the  time.  However, 
according  to  certified  dates,  "The  New  England 
Society  in  the  City  of  New  York  instituted 
A.D.  1805,"  is  the  oldest  New  England  Society  in 
the  United  States.  This  places  the  New  England 
Society  of  Charleston  second  in  point  of  antiquity. 

The  roster  of  the  original  members  and  the 
Act  of  Incorporation  follow: 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


ORIGINAL 

Nathaniel  Russell 
Joseph  Winthrop 
Doddridge  Crocker 
George  Gibbes 
Timothy  Edwards 

A.    S.    WiLLINGTON 

Matthew  Bridge 
James  L.  Child 
Jerry  Walter 
Philip  Robinson 
Joseph  Manning 
Arthur  Savage 
John  Goodwin 
Nathan  Foster 
Zadock  Gilman 

ROSWELL   SpRAGUE 

Francis  Shaw  Crocker 
Samuel  H.  Skinner 
E.  Cheney,  Jr. 
Henry  J.  Jones 
WiswALL  Jones 
Joseph  Clarke 
Horace  Bernard 
Daniel  Perkins 


MEMBERS 

George  W.  Prescott 
Samuel  N.  Bishop 
David  W.  Leland 
Isaac  Thayer 
John  H.  Benson 
Samuel  Chadwick 
Robert  Maxwell 
George  Gibbon 
Joseph  Tyler 
George  Dodd 
Thomas  G.  Woodward 
Silas  Howe 
Benjamin  F.  Dunkin 
John  Read 
Henry  Wheeler 
JosiAH  S.  Lovell 
John  Eggleston 
William  Crafts 
John  Reed 

George  W.  Eggleston 
Daniel  Parish 
Baxter  O.  Minott 
Jonathan  Coit 


6  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

ACT   OF   INCORPORATION 

passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  general  assembly  of 

the  state  of  south  carolina,  held  in 

december,  182o 

Whereas,  Joseph  Wenthrop,  Joseph  Manning, 
Henry  J.  Jones,  Doddridge  Crocker,  A.  S.  Will- 
ington,  George  Gibbes,  and  William  Crafts,  by  their 
petition,  in  behalf  of  themselves  and  a  number  of  others, 
prayed  that  they  may  be  incorporated  by  the  name  and 
style  of  the  New  England  Society. 

Be  it  Therefore  Enacted  by  the  Authority  Aforesaid, 
That  all  those  persons  who  now  are,  or  hereafter  may 
become,  members  of  the  said  Society,  shall  be,  and  they 
are  hereby,  incorporated  as  a  body  politic  and  corporate, 
and  shall  be  known  in  deed  and  in  law  by  the  name  of 
the  New  England  Society. 

And  Be  it  Further  Enacted  by  the  Authority  Aforesaid, 
That  a  succession  of  ofi&cers  and  members,  to  be  appointed 
or  elected  in  such  manner  and  according  to  such  form  as 
may  be  provided  by  such  rules  and  regulations  as  they 
may,  from  time  to  time,  ordain  and  establish  for  the  good 
government  of  the  said  Society;  and  that  they  shall  have 
a  common  seal,  with  power  to  alter  or  change  the  same  as 
often  as  they  may  deem  expedient  and  necessary. 

And  Be  it  Further  Enacted  by  the  Authority  Aforesaid, 
That  the  said  corporation  shall  be  capable  in  law  to  take 
by  donation,  devise,  or  purchase,  any  estate,  real  or  per- 
sonal, and  to  have,  hold,  and  possess  the  same  in  perpe- 
tuity or  for  a  term  of  years:  Provided,  The  annual  rent  or 
amount  thereof  shall  not  exceed  the  sum  of  one  thousand 
dollars;  and  to  lease,  alien,  or  dispose  of  the  same,  in  fee 
or  for  term  of  years,  in  any  way  that  it  may  deem  proper; 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOU'I'H  CAROLINA  7 

and  that  the  said  corporation  may  sue  and  be  sued,  plead 
and  be  impleaded,  answer  and  be  answered  unto,  in  any 
Court  of  Law  or  Equity  in  this  State. 

In  the  Senate  House,  the  twentieth  day  of  December, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty,  and  in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Benjamin  Huger, 

President  of  the  Senate 

Patrick  Noble, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 


8  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 


PURPOSE 

The  motive  which  inspired  men  to  organize  the 
New  England  Society  was  love.  The  sublime  pur- 
pose which  called  it  into  being  was  charity.  The 
birth  of  the  New  England  Society  was  the  humane 
response  to  a  great  need. 

It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that  the  Society 
was  organized  on  the  Epiphany,  the  great  mission- 
ary festival  of  the  Christian  church.  The  first 
committee  appointed  at  the  initial  meeting  of  the 
Society  was  a  committee  on  charity.  The  fol- 
lowing members  formed  the  committee:  Robert 
Maxwell,  Doddridge  Crocker,  A.  S.  Willington, 
George  Gibbes,  J.  S.  Lovell,  Timothy  Edwards, 
William  Crafts. 

It  would  have  been  impossible  at  the  time  to 
call  together  seven  more  representative  citizens  of 
Charleston.  The  year  1819  experienced  a  very 
severe  industrial  and  financial  crisis,  which 
extended  over  the  entire  country  and  which  con- 
tinued for  a  number  of  years.  In  1820  and  in 
1 82 1  the  United  States  government  was  com- 
pelled to  borrow  money  at  a  rate  of  interest  as 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA     9 

high  as  six  per  cent.  The  condition  in  Charleston 
was  no  exception  to  that  of  the  country  in  general. 
There  was  therefore  a  pressing  need  for  a  benevo- 
lent organization  such  as  the  New  Englanders 
formed.  The  appeals  for  assistance  were  of  a 
most  worthy  character. 

One  of  the  newspapers  of  Charleston  published 
the  following  appeal,  which  was  typical  of  the 
time: 

We  are  requested  to  call  the  attention  of  the  charitable 
to  the  situation  of  a  poor  family  from  Boston,  Massachu- 
setts, reduced  to  the  deepest  distress  for  want  of  neces- 
sary subsistence.  They  arrived  here  in  the  early  part  of 
last  summer,  but  were  compelled  to  remove,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  sickness  which  soon  after  prevailed,  to 
Haddrell's  Point.  All  the  means  which  their  Httle  prop- 
erty afforded  them  of  sustaining  life  are  now  exhausted, 
and  being  without  friends,  they  are  induced  to  make  this 
appeal  to  the  commiseration  of  the  liberal  and  feeling 
inhabitants  of  this  place.  Donations  will  be  received  at 
this  office. 

An  appeal  to  the  New  England  Society  from 
the  Charleston  Port  Society  also  emphasized  the 
need  for  such  a  charitable  organization: 

Among  the  sailors  to  whom  we  are  constantly  minis- 
tering, especially  those  sick  in  our  hospitals,  we  find  a  large 
proportion  are  natives  of  the  New  England  States,  more 
especially  from  the  states  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts. 


lo  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

These  men  are  found  generally  upon  the  coasting  vessels 
that  frequent  this  port,  and  during  the  summer  are 
especially  subject  to  fevers  and  other  diseases  incident 
to  our  climate.  To  supply  their  needs  after  they  have 
been  discharged  from  the  hospital  and  are  convalescing, 
and  until  they  are  able  to  ship  again,  requires  an  outlay 
of  money  by  the  Port  Society  which  it  cannot  easily  spare, 
however  willing  they  may  be  to  do  so. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  I  take  the  liberty,  as  chaplain 
of  the  Port  Society  and  also  as  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Society,  to  appeal  to  you  for  aid  to  enable  us  to 
carry  on  our  work  without  interruption,  and  to  be  in  a 
position  to  aid  all  who  need  help,  especially  such  as  come 
from  the  New  England  States.  As  all  moneys  are  care- 
fiilly  disbursed  under  my  own  immediate  supervision, 
you  can  rest  assured  that  whatever  amount  you  may  be 
pleased  to  donate  will  be  worthily  bestowed,  and  we  will 
be  only  the  agent  in  furthering  the  great  aim  of  your 
noble  Society — the  aid  and  comfort  to  the  sons  of  New 
England. 

At  this  point  it  will  be  of  interest  to  give  a 
few  illustrations  of  the  kind  of  charity  dispensed 
by  the  New  England  Society,  as  shown  from  the 
reports  of  the  committee  on  charity: 

In  discharge  of  the  important  trusts  committed  to 
their  keeping,  your  committee  have  adhered  closely  to 
the  rule  and  objects  that  governed  the  original  founders 
of  this  Society,  in  the  relief  for  such  of  the  sons  or  their 
descendants  of  New  England  as  might  be  arrested  by  the 
hand  of  disease  or  chill  penury  in  this  city. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  ii 

During  the  past  year,  many  applications  were  made 
for  relief.  A  close  examination  of  these  applicants  satis- 
fied your  committee  that  they  were  natives  of  New 
England  or  descendants  and  proper  subjects  for  aid  or 
assistance.  Your  committee  has  drawn  upon  the  treas- 
urer for  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars:  one  hun- 
dred for  the  relief  in  part  of  the  oldest  and  esteemed 
member,  stricken  down  by  the  "hand  of  disease,"  and 
twenty-five  dollars  to  aid  the  widow  of  a  deceased 
member  to  remove  to  New  York,  with  the  prospect  of 
earning  a  support  as  nurse  in  one  of  the  hospitals  in 
that  city. 

The  committee  on  charity  paid  forty-five  dollars  for 
the  funeral  expenses  of  the  late  I.  C.  Duggan,  who  was  a 
native  of  New  England,  and  buried  in  our  Society  grounds. 
He  died  in  destitute  circumstances. 

The  committee  on  charity  reported  the  case  of  Albert 
Snow,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  who  was  cared  for 
here  while  sick,  and  his  body  sent  home  by  the  Society 
after  his  death. 

The  Reverend  Charles  S.  Vedder,  D.D.,  was  reduced 
in  financial  circumstances  during  the  last  years  of  his  life. 
The  New  England  Society,  of  which  he  had  been  the  dis- 
tinguished president,  met  the  emergency  by  paying  his 
house  rent  for  a  number  of  years. 

March  j,  184J.  The  Society  resolved  to  dispense 
with  the  customary  quarterly  supper  in  June  and  Sep- 
tember, and  to  donate  the  cost  of  same,  one  hundred 
dollars,  to  the  distressed  poor  of  Ireland  and  Scotland. 

December  6,  1854.  The  Society,  by  resolution, 
donated  one  hundred  dollars  to  the  Calhoun  Monument 
Association. 


12 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 


December  26,  18 j8.  The  treasurer  paid  twenty-five 
dollars  toward  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  late 
Reverend  Samuel  Gilman,  as  authorized  by  resolution  of 
the  Society,  June  2,  1858. 

March  i,  1876.  The  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  was 
donated  for  the  Jasper  monument,  to  be  unveiled  by  the 
Palmetto  Guard,  June  28,  1876. 

June  20,  i8'/6.  The  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars  was 
donated  toward  the  entertainment  of  the  Boston  Light 
Infantry  and  the  Old  Guard  of  New  York,  whilst  visiting 
this  city  in  the  interests  of  a  restored  Union. 

March  6,  i8'/8.  The  sum  of  twenty-five  dollars  was 
donated  toward  the  bust  of  William  Gilmore  Simms,  in 
response  to  a  request  from  the  Honorable  W.  D.  Porter, 
chairman  of  the  committee. 

December  22,  1884.  The  sum  of  twenty-five  dollars 
was  donated  to  the  Christmas  tree  for  the  poor. 


SPECIAL   DONATIONS   TO   THE   SOCIETY 


September,  1820        Nathaniel  Russell 
December  10,  1822    Mrs.  Russell 


Edward  Thwing 
Robert  Maxwell 


Five  hundred 
dollars 

Twenty 
dollars 

Ten  dollars 

One  thousand 
two  hun- 
dred dollars 

One  thousand 
dollars 
March  31,  ^862  Rev.  Jonathan  Cole     One  hundred 

dollars 


January,  1836 
March  i6,  1850 


February  19,  1862      A.  S.  Willington 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  13 

It  remains  to  give  an  account  of  the  Society's 
noblest  act  of  piety  and  charity,  namely,  the 
erection  of  a  monument  to  the  sons  of  New 
England  at  Magnolia  Cemetery  and  the  dedica- 
tion of  a  section  of  that  sacred  domain  as  a  burial 
place  for  New  Englanders  and  their  descendants. 

This  great  work  of  charity  was  conceived  in 
1852  and  consummated  in  1871.  The  service  of 
dedication  took  place  in  the  beautiful  city  of 
the  dead  the  afternoon  of  July  26,  187 1.  The 
account  ensuing  is  essentially  from  the  minutes  of 
the  Society  and  from  the  Charleston  Daily  Courier 
of  July  27,  187 1.  The  dedicatory  prayer  was 
offered  by  the  Reverend  W.  C.  Dana,  a  member  of 
the  Society.  The  address  of  Dr.  Robert  Lebby, 
Sr.,  chairman  of  the  committee,  followed.  Dr. 
Lebby  said  in  part : 

"We  are  this  day  assembled  in  this  ' City  of  the 
Dead'  to  dedicate  a  section  of  this  silent  domain 
to  New  England  Society  charity — a  virtue  which 
has  always  stood  forth  in  bold  relief,  and  confined 
not  only  to  this  Society,  but  common  to  all  similar 
societies  in  this  'City  by  the  Sea.' 

"  The  selection  and  purchase  of  a  section  in  this 
'City  of  the  Dead'  was  introduced  to  the  notice  of 
the  New  England  Society  in  December,   1S52. 


14  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

The  committee  appointed  at  that  time,  with  one 
exception,  have  departed  and  gone  to  '  that  bourne 
from  whence  no  traveler  ever  returneth.'  At  a 
meeting  of  the  Society  held  June  2,  1869,  the  sub- 
ject was  again  called  up  from  the  journal  and  a 
committee  appointed,  consisting  of  Dr.  Robert 
Lebby,  A.  H.  Hayden,  and  Frederick  Richards,  to 
carry  out  the  original  intention  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  of  providing  a  final  resting  spot  for 
indigents  and  others,  natives  of  New  England, 
and  their  descendants,  who  might  die  in  this 
vicinity," 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Society  on  December  i, 
1869,  Dr.  R.  Lebby,  chairman  of  the  committee, 
read  the  following  report  to  the  Society: 

The  committee  appointed  June  2,  1869,  to  select  a  lot 
or  lots  at  Magnolia  Cemetery,  for  interring  deceased 
indigent  members  of  this  Society  and  others,  respectfully 
report  that  they  have  discharged  the  duty  assigned  them 
and  selected  three  lots,  as  per  plat  annexed;  and  believe 
the  same  can  be  obtained  for  three  hundred  dollars. 

The  site  selected  is  directly  in  front  of  the  Orphan 
Asylum  lots  and  is  an  eligible  location  for  the  New  Eng- 
land Society. 

The  committee  respectfully  recommend  to  the  Society 
to  purchase  the  lots  and  place  them  mider  the  care  of  the 
committee  on  charity,  or  a  special  committee  to  be 
known  as  the  Cemetery  Committee  of  the  New  England 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  15 

Society  and  that  they  be  authorized,  if  the  lots  are  pur- 
chased, to  have  them  cleared  and  cleaned  up. 

Respectfully  submitted 

Robert  Lebby 
A.  H,  Hayden 
F.  Richards 

The  report  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the 
same  committee  was  authorized  to  complete  the 
purchase  and  turn  over  the  charge  of  the  lots  to 
the  committee  on  charity. 

On  March  9,  1869,  the  committee  reported 
that  the  purchase  of  the  lots  had  been  concluded, 
and  that  they  would  be  enclosed  with  a  wild  orange 
hedge.  The  committee  also  submitted  a  plan  for 
a  monument.  It  was  resolved  that  the  committee 
on  charity  be  authorized  to  mature  a  plan  and 
furnish  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  a  suitable  monu- 
ment, and  to  report  at  the  next  meeting,  June  2, 
1870. 

The  committee  on  charity  submitted  a  plan 
for  a  monument  to  be  erected  in  Magnolia  Ceme- 
tery; also,  a  letter  from  the  Plummer  Granite 
Company  bearing  on  the  cost. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Richardson  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  subject  of  the  monument  be  referred 
to  the  committee  on  charity,  with  full  power  to  act  as  in 
their  judgment  seemed  best. 


1 6  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

The  committee  on  charity  was  composed  of 
the  following  gentlemen:  Dr.  R.  Lebby,  L.  T. 
Potter,  A.  H.  Hayden,  D.  F.  Fleming,  E.  W. 
Edgerton,  C.  R.  Brewster,  J.  R.  Read. 

"The  monument  manufactured  by  the  Plum- 
mer  Granite  Company  cost,  including  all  neces- 
sary expenses,  $2,000.  It  is  made  of  solid  New 
England  granite  and  consists  of  an  octagonal 
shaft  or  column  resting  on  four  quadrilateral 
bases.  On  one  side  of  the  base  is  the  inscription 
in  raised  letters,  'New  England  Society,  1819.' 
The  grounds  are  surrounded  and  fenced  in  by  a 
granite  fence,  at  the  entrance  of  which  are  the 
letters  'N.E.S.'  raised  from  the  granite. 

"The  ground  has  been  opened  to  receive  for 
the  first  interment  the  body  of  Mr.  Edward  J. 
Norris,  stranger,  born  at  Astoria,  Long  Island, 
July  4,  1839,  who  died  in  Charleston,  May  17, 
1870;  and  again  to  receive  into  its  bosom  the 
body  of  Dr.  John  T.  Cole,  son  of  Reverend 
Jonathan  J.  E.  E.  Cole,  of  Newburyport,  Massa- 
chusetts, who  died  in  the  city  of  Charleston  on 
January  3,  1871." 

The  duties  assigned  to  the  committee  having 
been  completed,  the  corner  stone  was  laid  with 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  17 

impressive  ceremony.  The  chairman,  Dr.  Lebby, 
delivered  the  following  address: 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  New 
England  Society,  here  is  your  cemetery,  enclosed 
with  New  England  granite,  emblematic  of  Plym- 
outh Rock,  upon  which  our  forefathers  first  landed 
on  this  western  shore. 

"There  will  stand  your  monument,  as  soon  as 
you  deposit  into  its  foundation  this  jar,  containing 
a  copy  of  the  constitution  and  names  of  the 
founders  and  members  of  the  New  England  Society 
and  other  relics,  with  the  newspapers  of  the  day. 
A  granite  column  will  surmount  this  base.  At 
this  entrance,  the  'N.E.S.'  will  inform  the  visitor 
that  this  is  the  final  resting-place  in  South  Caro- 
lina of  indigent  and  unfortunate  New  Englanders 
and  their  descendants,  who  die  here  in  a  strange 
land  but  not  among  strangers. 

"Here,  Mr.  President,  you  behold  the  fruit  of 
the  labor  of  that  band  of  kind-hearted  and  noble 
spirits,  sons  of  New  England,  assembled  in  this 
city  of  Charleston,  on  January  6,  a.d.  1819,  for 
the  twofold  purpose  of  keeping  alive  in  their 
minds  the  memory  of  the  land  of  their  birth  and 
the  institutions  handed  them  from  their  fathers. 


1 8  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Another,  a  higher  object  with  them,  was  to  organ- 
ize an  efficient  system  of  reUef  for  such  of  the  sons 
of  New  England  as  might  be  arrested  by  the  hand 
of  disease  or  chill  of  penury  in  this  city.  Ani- 
mated by  these  pure  and  holy  sentiments,  directed 
to  the  same  great  end,  the  different  elements  of 
which  our  Society  is  composed  harmonize  to  pro- 
duce one  noble  result.  And  the  steady  increase  of 
our  numbers,  the  cordial  co-operation  which  exists 
among  us,  show  that  in  emulating  the  example  of 
our  Pilgrim  Fathers  in  all  things  good  we  follow 
them  not  when  leading  to  narrow  and  sectional 
conclusions. 

"In  the  first  assembly,  we  find  recorded  the 
names  of  Nathaniel  Russell,  Joseph  Winthrop, 
Doddridge  Crocker,  David  W.  Leland,  A.  S.  Will- 
ington,  B.  F.  Dunkin,  and  others  of  a  kindred 
spirit. 

"  Of  that  noble  band  of  gentlemen  in  the  provi- 
dence of  Almighty  God,  but  one  remains  to  wit- 
ness the  triumphant  progress  of  the  institution 
which  they  first  put  into  operation.  'Death  has 
been  busy  among  them;  time  has  laid  his  hand 
on  one  after  another  of  the  group;  and  they  have 
gradually  fallen  asleep  and  rested  from  their  good 
works  below.' 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  19 

"Sir,  we  are  permitted  this  day  to  see  in  our 
midst,  on  this  interesting  occasion,  the  only  sur- 
viving patriarch  of  that  band  of  intelligence  and 
purity  which  brought  this  Society  into  existence, 
Honorable  Benjamin  Faneuil  Dunkin,  standing 
here,  as  he  does,  on  the  confines  of  two  worlds,  the 
native  representative  of  New  England  and  South 
CaroHna's  representative  as  the  learned  jurist  and 
upright  judge  of  his  adopted  state. 

"The  state  of  his  adoption  honored  him  with 
the  mantle  of  her  chief  justice,  and  by  the  purity 
of  his  legal  and  Christian  life,  he  has  brilliantly 
reflected  back  that  honor;  by  preserving  his 
integrity  and  the  ermine  of  his  mantle  untarnished, 
without  spot  or  blemish.  South  Carolina  claims 
him  as  her  son  'in  whom  there  is  no  guile.' 

"Mr.  President,  in  behalf  of  my  colleagues,  I 
have  the  honor  to  tender  for  your  acceptance,  as 
the  representative  head  of  the  New  England 
Society,  this  cemetery  and  its  monument.  INIay 
it  last  as  long  as  time,  and  when  it  shall  crumble 
away  amidst  the  'crash  of  worlds,'  may  the 
kindred  dust  of  those  it  represents  be  reanimated 
and  ascend  amongst  the  redeemed  of  the  Eternal 
World." 


20  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

In  accepting  the  report  of  the  committee, 
Mr.  James  B.  Campbell,  the  president  of  the 
Society,  spoke  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Com- 
mittee: In  behalf  of  and  in  the  name  of  the  New 
England  Society,  I  thank  you  for  your  faithful 
performance  of  the  duty  that  has  been  assigned 
you.  We  cordially  approve  of  your  arrangements, 
and  I  assure  you  that  every  heart  here  beats  in 
acquiescence  to  what  you  have  said  of  our  vener- 
able brother,  B.  F.  Dunkin. 

"Gentlemen  of  the  New  England  Society,  we 
are  assembled  here,  in  uncovered  presence,  with  a 
good  and  noble  motive.  We  have  assembled  to 
the  performance  of  a  work  which  will  enlist  the 
sympathy  and  feeling  of  every  thinking  person — 
to  dedicate  and  lay  the  foundation  of  a  simple 
and  tasteful  monument  to  mark  the  resting-place 
of  our  friends  and  brethren.  I  have  a  single 
remark  to  make  in  this  connection,  and  I  shall 
make  it  without  enlarging  upon  it.  There  is  one 
sentiment  upon  which  all  creeds  and  sects,  reli- 
gious and  irreligious,  are  united — a  sentiment 
which  obliterates  the  marks  between  civiHzation 
and  barbarism  and  brings  upon  a  common  level 
degradation  and  the  highest  grade  of  civilization. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  21 

That  sentiment  is  a  reverence  of  the  dead  and  the 
burying  places  of  the  dead.  I  have  never  heard 
of  any  tribe  or  class  or  race  of  men  so  degraded 
who  did  not  have  a  pious  reverence  for  their  bury- 
ing places.  We  have  now  to  unite  in  that  senti- 
ment, and  it  is  well  that  we  have  done  so.  I  am 
glad  that  I  am  here.  I  am  glad  that  at  this  period 
of  his  life  my  venerable  friend  has  seen  the 
accomphshment  of  this  work.  I  am  glad  that 
you  are  here  to  participate,  and  with  these  simple 
remarks  made  simply  for  the  purpose  of  recalling 
this  sentiment,  we  are  here  to  pay  our  respects 
and  do  homage  to  that  sentiment." 

The  corner  stone  was  then  opened,  and  a  her- 
metically sealed  jar,  containing  a  Hst  of  the 
members  of  this  Society,  its  constitution  and 
by-laws,  copies  of  the  Courier  and  the  News,  and 
other  memoranda,  were  placed  in  the  receptacle. 

In  closing  this  the  president  said,  rapping 
upon  the  stone  with  his  gavel : 

"We  have  now  performed  the  ceremony  of 
laying  the  corner  stone  of  this  monument.  Let 
us  hope  and  believe  that  this  solid  granite  will  be 
indicative  of  our  perpetuity  and  usefulness  and  of 
the  stern  and  manly  sentiment  that  should  guide 
our  conduct.     L-et  us  hope  that  it  may  be  typical 


22  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

of  our  character.  If  we  may  hope  thus,  we  can 
have  no  earthly  hope  of  a  higher  degree." 

The  venerable  ex- Chief  Justice  Dunkin  was 
then  introduced,  and  spoke  with  much  feeling  as 
follows : 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen:  After  what  has 
been  said,  it  cannot  be  expected  of  me  to  say 
much.  It  is  nearly  a  half-century  since  that 
company  met  in  the  old  Carolina  Coffee  House, 
in  Tradd  Street,  to  organize  the  New  England 
Society.  Many  of  us,  if  not  descendants,  were 
immediately  connected  with  the  descendants  of 
the  Plymouth  Fathers,  and  the  day  of  their  land- 
ing on  the  Rock  was  adopted  as  our  anniversary. 
The  first  presiding  officers  of  the  Society  were  the 
venerable  Nathaniel  Russell,  of  Rhode  Island, 
long  cherished  by  those  who  knew  him,  and 
Joseph  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  a  worthy 
representative  of  a  long  line  of  ancestors  who 
landed  from  the  Mayflower.  Many  were  much 
older  than  myself,  and  some  were  even  younger, 
but  I  was  startled  when  I  was  told  that  none  were 
left  but  myself.  They  have  all  gone  to  their  long 
homes;  but  their  works  do  them  honor.  We 
organized  that  day  an  institution  which  promoted 
social  relations  and  dispensed  charity  to  the  Hving 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  23 

and  needy.  We  have  met  here  today  to  tender 
our  last  mark  of  respect  and  regard  to  those  who 
have  died  among  us.  I  arose  but  to  say  these  few 
words,  and  to  tell  you  that  I  am  with  you  now 
heart  and  soul,  as  I  was  with  the  Society  at  its 
birth.  I  loved  and  venerated  New  England,  the 
land  of  my  birth,  where  the  bones  of  my  ancestors 
he;  and  we  love  the  land  of  our  adoption.  Caro- 
hna  has  been  kind  to  us  all  and  in  weal  or  woe  is 
well  entitled  to  our  respect  and  grateful  attach- 
ment. Here  have  been  our  early  trials,  our  joys 
and  sorrows,  and  I  trust  when  life's  feverish  dream 
is  past  here  too  my  ashes  will  repose." 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the 
Reverend  W.  H.  Adams,  a  member  of  the  Society. 

The  Reverend  C.  S.  Vedder,  D.D.,  eighth 
president  of  the  New  England  Society,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  four  burying  places  were 
offered  him,  two  of  which  were  in  his  native  state, 
New  York,  requested  that  he  be  buried  in  the 
cemetery  of  the  New  England  Society  at  beauti- 
ful Magnolia.  The  request  was  granted  by  the 
Society,  and  the  venerable  "man  of  God"  now 
rests  there  by  the  side  of  his  saintly  wife. 

In  1854  the  president  of  the  New  England 
Society,  Mr.  A.  S.  Willington,  was  introduced  at  a 


24  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

banquet  given  by  the  St.  Andrews  Society,  in  the 
following  words: 

"Mr.  President,  I  beg  leave  to  welcome  again 
to  our  festal  board  the  respected  president  of  the 
New  England  Society,  the  head  of  an  institution 
not  quite  so  gray  in  years  as  ours,  but  whose 
bounty  to  the  widow  and  the  orphan  and  whose 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  true  charity  have  been  so 
extensive  and  liberal;  such  good  deeds  are  worthy 
of  being  engraven  on  tablets  of  steel  in  letters  of 
gold." 

This  glowing  tribute  to  the  benevolent  work  of 
the  New  England  Society,  which  during  a  period 
of  one  hundred  years  never  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  a 
needy  cause,  forms  a  fitting  peroration  to  this 
chapter. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


THE  PRESIDENTS 

In  a  formative  period  of  approximately  one 
hundred  years,  the  New  England  Society  of 
Charleston  has  had  only  eight  presidents. 

The  eight,  individually  and  collectively,  repre- 
sented the  best  thought  and  action  of  their  day. 
They  were  practical  ideaUsts.  They  stood  for 
the  New  England  type  of  manhood. 

All  of  them  were  elected  to  the  ofi&ce  of  presi- 
dent unanimously.  All  continued  in  office  until 
removed  by  death. 

All  of  them  lived  to  be  more  than  threescore 
and  ten  years.  It  is  quite  extraordinary  that  the 
average  age  of  the  eight  presidents  was  within  a 
fraction  of  seventy-eight  years. 

The  sketches  which  follow  are  designed  to  give 
an  estimate  of  their  services  and  of  the  esteem  in 
which  they  were  held. 

NATHANIEL  RUSSELL 

Nathaniel  Russell,  the  first  president  of  the 
New  England  Society  of  Charleston,  was  born  at 
Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  November  i6,  1738.     His 


26  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

ancestors  had  been  leaders  of  thought  and  action 
in  New  England  for  more  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  His  father,  Joseph  Russell,  was  for  a 
time  chief  justice  of  Rhode  Island. 

It  was  the  Reverend  John  Russell,  a  forbear  of 
Nathaniel  Russell,  who  in  1675  concealed  in  his 
home  at  Hadley,  Massachusetts,  Edward  WHialley, 
one  of  Cromwell's  major  generals,  and  William 
Goffe,  an  English  parliamentary  commander,  who 
had  been  conspicuous  in  the  Revolution  of  Eng- 
land and  who  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing 
a  guilty  king,  Charles  I,  to  the  block. 

These  two  heroes  of  democracy  were  of  course 
persona  non  grata  to  all  who  beHeved  in  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  consequently  after  the  restoration 
of  Charles  II  they  were  pursued  and  persecuted 
by  the  minions  of  royalty.  They  naturally  fled 
to  America  for  protection  and  safety,  which  they 
found  in  the  castle  of  "the  parson  of  Hadley," 
who  at  the  peril  of  his  life  gave  them  a  place  of 
refuge. 

One  hundred  years  ago  some  of  the  great  mer- 
chants of  the  world  lived  in  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  They  came  from  England,  France,  and 
New  England.  Thomas,  in  his  Reminiscences 
and  Sketches  of  His  Life  and  Times,  gives  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  27 

names  of  about  forty  of  the  leading  merchants 
of  Charleston  in  1795.  The  name  of  Nathaniel 
Russell  appears  at  the  head  of  the  list.  There 
was  only  one  native  of  South  Carolina  in  the  group 
mentioned,  and  he  was  a  junior  partner  of  one  of 
the  large  firms;  his  name  was  Stoney. 

Mr.  Thomas  continued  his  observation  by 
stating  that  "the  door  of  the  St.  Cecilia  Society 
was  shut  to  the  plebeian  and  the  man  of  business, 
with  two  exceptions:  Adam  Tunno,  king  of  the 
Scotch,  and  William  Crafts,  vice-king  of  the 
Yankees  under  their  legitimate  head,  Nathaniel 
Russell,  than  whom  there  was  no  better  man." 

Nathaniel  Russell  came  to  Charleston  from 
New  England  a  beardless  youth,  and  by  reason  of 
rare  ability,  indomitable  will  power,  and  sterling 
integrity,  became  a  merchant  prince. 

Not  many  years  after  his  arrival  in  Charleston 
he  married  Miss  Sarah  Hopton.  Two  daughters 
were  born  from  this  union — Sarah,  who  married 
the  Right  Reverend  Theodore  Dehon,  D.D., 
bishop  of  South  Carolina,  and  Alicia,  who  married 
Arthur  Middleton. 

In  181 1  Mr.  Russell  completed  his  mansion  on 
Meeting  Street,  which  was  one  of  the  most  palatial 
residences  at  that  time  in  the  South.    It  was  the 


28  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

first  house  built  in  Charleston  in  which  marble 
keystones  were  used.  Not  many  years  ago, 
Dr.  Thomas  Nelson  Page,  the  famous  author  and 
diplomat,  in  passing  the  Nathaniel  Russell  house, 
said  to  his  friend,  "There  are  my  windows." 
When  Dr.  Page  built  his  handsome  residence  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  he  sent  an  architect  to  Charles- 
ton to  copy  the  beautiful  windows  Mr.  Russell  had 
designed  for  his  Charleston  home  more  than  one 
hundred  years  before. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Russell,  Governor 
Alston  lived  in  this  elegant  home.  It  is  now  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Francis  J.  Pelzer. 

The  New  England  Society  of  Charleston  owes 
its  existence  to  Nathaniel  Russell.  He  was  the 
moving  spirit  in  its  origin  and  organization,  and 
quite  naturally  its  first  president.  Next  to  his 
own  family  he  loved  this  Society.  He  bequeathed 
to  the  Society  its  first  legacy,  the  sum  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars,  which  at  the  time  was  a  large  amount, 
and  which  became  the  nucleus  of  an  endowment 
of  more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars.  *^He 
builded  better  than  he  knew." 

He  died  April  ii,  1820,  full  of  years  and  full  of 
good  works.     A  splendid  tomb  marks  his  resting- 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  29 

place  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Circular  Congrega- 
tional Church,  on  Meeting  Street. 

The  day  after  his  death  the  following  appre- 
ciation appeared  in  the  Courier: 

Died,  yesterday,  in  his  residence  in  Meeting  Street, 
the  venerable  Nathaniel  Russell,  an  upright,  honorable 
man,  a  philanthropist,  and  a  fervent  and  exemplary 
Christian.  He  was  a  native  of  New  England,  an  honor 
to  the  land  which  gave  him  birth,  and  a  blessing  to  this 
city  which  has  long  enjoyed  the  light  of  his  virtues,  the 
warmth  of  his  benevolence,  and  the  chastening  purity  of 
his  character  and  influence. 

This  morning  will  consign  his  remains  to  the  grave — 
and  he  who  for  nearly  a  century  has  been  doing  good  on 
earth  will  be  seen  here  no  more.  We  cannot  express 
what  we  feel  on  this  afflicting  bereavement. 

The  Right  Reverend  Nathaniel  Bowen,  D.D., 
writing  in  his  register  in  1820,  paid  the  following 
tribute : 

"The  death  of  my  venerable  friend,  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Russell,  was  a  deeply  affecting  event. 
From  my  earliest  youth  he  had  sustained  toward 
me  the  relation  of  a  kind,  paternal  counselor  and 
friend.  He  had  been  the  friend  of  my  father  when 
he  came  in  search  of  a  professional  establishment 
in  this  country. 

"He  was  the  friend  and  protector  of  my 
mother   in   the   destitution   and    sorrow   of   her 


30  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

widowhood,  and  he  never  failed  to  evince  towards 
me  the  kindest  and  most  benevolent  affection. 
How  could  I  entertain  a  faint  sentiment  of  grati- 
tude or  love  towards  him?  He  was  not  of  the 
church  of  which  I  am;  but  he  was  a  Christian  of 
no  ordinary  excellence;  and  there  was  always 
that  in  him  that  gave  him  an  unquestionable 
claim  to  be  respected. 

"He  was  a  virtuous,  wise  man,  and  I  truly 
believe  he  diligently  sought  to  be  accepted  of  God 
through  Jesus  Christ. 

"Thine  own  and  thy  father's  friend  forget  not. 
Mr.  Russell's  death,  though  at  eighty-two  years 
of  age,  was  a  public  loss  of  considerable  impor- 


tance." 


William  Crafts,  Jr.,  speaking  at  the  annual 
celebration  of  the  New  England  Society,  just 
a  few  months  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Russell, 
said: 

"It  is  the  record  of  active  and  persevering 
virtues,  such  as  filled  up  and  adorned  and  endeared 
the  life  of  your  late  worthy  president  and  bene- 
factor. I  miss  from  among  you  his  venerable 
form.  He  rests  from  his  benevolent  labors.  The 
useful  only  have  a  right  to  live,  and  sweet  is  repose 
after  honorable  toil." 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  31 

JOSEPH  WINTHROP 

Joseph  Winthrop,  second  president  of  the 
New  England  Society,  was  born  at  New  London, 
Connecticut,  June  19,  1757.  He  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  first  governor,  John  Winthrop, 
standing  fifth  in  line  of  descent.  His  distin- 
guished nephew,  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  whose 
name  has  been  linked  with  the  cause  of  education 
from  the  day  when,  in  a  new  colony,  John  Win- 
throp signed  the  first  voluntary  subscription  for 
free  schools  in  America,  was  selected  by  George 
Peabody  as  the  administrator  of  his  great  bene- 
faction of  over  three  milHon  dollars  for  the  cause 
of  common  education  of  the  children  of  the  South, 
when  almost  all  of  the  schools  were  closed  as  the 
result  of  the  Civil  War. 

The  great  Winthrop  Normal  College  for 
women,  located  at  Rock  Hill,  South  Carolina, 
was  by  common  consent  of  the  people  of  the 
state  named  in  honor  of  Robert  C.  Winthrop. 

Joseph  Winthrop  came  to  Charleston  in  1783. 
He  at  once  entered  the  mercantile  business  and 
became  one  of  the  prominent  merchants  of  the 
city.  For  more  than  a  generation  he  was  actively 
engaged  in  the  development  of  the  commercial. 


32  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

educational,  and  religious  life  of  his  adopted  city. 

In  1788  he  married  Miss  Mary  Fraser,  daughter 
of  Alexander  Fraser. 

Mr.  Winthrop  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
New  England  Society.  His  name  appears  second 
on  the  list  of  original  members.  He  was  elected 
vice-president  when  the  Society  was  organized  in 
1 81 9,  and  president  one  year  later. 

His  tomb,  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Michael's 
Church,  bears  the  following  inscription: 

SACRED 
TO   THE   MEMORY 

or 

JOSEPH   WINTHROP 

WHO   WAS   BORN    I9TH  JUNE,    1 757 

IN   NEW   LONDON,   CONN. 

AND    DIED     26TH    JULY,    1 82 8 

IN  THIS  CITY  OF  WHICH  HE 

HAD  BEEN  FOR  45  YEARS 

A   WORTHY   AND  RESPECTABLE 

INHABITANT 

DODDRIDGE  CROCKER 

Doddridge  Crocker,  third  president  of  the  New 
England  Society,  was  born  at  Andover,  Connecti- 
cut, in  1769.  He  came  to  Charleston  in  1788,  and 
entered  the  mercantile  business  in  which  he  con- 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  33 

tinued  for  over  fifty  years.  An  old  Charleston 
friend,  writing  of  him  shortly  after  his  death,  said : 

"He  was  the  oldest  merchant  in  this  city,  and 
it  can  with  truth  be  said  that  during  this  extended 
series  of  years,  immersed  in  commerce  and  in 
continual  association  with  our  citizens,  he  left  not 
an  enemy  behind.  Mild,  unassuming,  benevo- 
lent— he  breathed  nothing  but  good  will  and 
peace  to  his  fellow-man.  Honest,  industrious, 
energetic — ^he  ever  commanded  the  most  perfect 
respect  from  all.  Mr.  Crocker  had  often  been 
soUcited  to  occupy  public  stations,  but  being 
retiring  in  disposition,  he  invariably  declined 
them,  and  with  the  single  exception  of  being  presi- 
dent of  the  New  England  Society,  he  has  ever 
considered  that  a  private  station  was  the  post  of 
honor." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  New  England  Society, 
June  2,  1847,  the  following  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions were  adopted: 

"Whereas,  It  has  pleased  Ahnighty  God  to 
remove  from  among  us  our  late  venerable  Presi- 
dent, Doddridge  Crocker,  the  occasion  seems 
appropriate  for  expressing  our  lively  sense  of  this 
solemn  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  as  well 
as  placing  upon  the  archives  of  this  Society  some 


34  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

enduring  memorial  of  the  virtues  of  that  excellent 
man.  For  more  than  half  a  century  Mr.  Crocker 
has  been  a  citizen  of  Charleston  and,  while  pos- 
sessing modest  and  unobtrusive  manners,  he  has, 
during  all  that  time,  deservedly  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  an  accomplished  merchant,  a 
courteous  gentleman,  and  a  man  of  inflexible 
integrity.  He  was,  besides,  a  sincere  Christian, 
one  who  feared  God,  respected  the  rights  of  his 
fellow-men,  and  ever  maintained  a  conscience 
void  of  offense. 

"The  subject  of  this  memorial,  while  yet  a 
youth,  was  placed  by  his  father  in  a  counting- 
house  in  Boston,  and  there  became  famihar  with 
those  duties  of  the  merchant  which  he  so  success- 
fully and  honorably  performed  to  the  close  of  a 
long  and  an  exemplary  Hfe.  He  appears  to  have 
been  endowed  by  nature  not  with  brilliant  but 
with  substantial  powers  of  mind.  His  chief  intel- 
lectual characteristic  was  strong  common  sense; 
and  among  his  moral  quahties  the  most  remark- 
able were  a  love  of  justice  and  a  love  of  truth.  To 
these  he  added  the  advantages  of  a  plain,  sub- 
stantial education  and  an  engaging  address,  which 
made  him  welcome  in  all  circles  where  real  worth 
is  duly  appreciated.     Mr.  Crocker  was  a  man  of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  35 

genuine  but  unostentatious  benevolence,  ever 
especially  ready  to  seek  out  and  relieve  objects  of 
distress  and  to  encourage  and  patronize  youthful 
merit.  There  are  many  in  this  community  who 
can  bear  testimony  to  such  substantial  evidences 
of  his  friendship— many  who  can  truly  say  that 
when  the  ear  heard  him  it  blessed  him,  and  when 
the  eye  saw  him  it  bore  witness  of  him,  because  he 
delivered  the  fatherless  who  had  none  to  help  him, 
and  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  leap  for  joy. 

"Mr.  Crocker  was  one  of  the  original  founders 
of  the  New  England  Society  of  Charleston;  was 
elected  its  third  president  in  1828,  and  has  been 
its  presiding  officer  nineteen  years.  During  this 
long  period,  he  has  exercised  the  presidential  func- 
tions with  dignity  and  ability;  has  ever  been 
watchful  of  the  interests  of  the  Society,  mani- 
fested a  deep  soHcitude  for  its  prosperity,  as  well 
as  a  lively  concern  for  the  success  and  happiness 
of  its  individual  members.  We  shall  see  his  face 
and  his  venerable  form  among  us  no  more  forever! 
He  has  passed  through  this  probationary  state — 
has  ended  the  perilous  journey  of  life — having 
nobly  resisted  the  temptations  and  avoided  the 
snares  which  beset  the  path  of  all  men.  He  was 
a  pure-minded,  honorable,  upright  gentleman  of 


36  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

the  old  school — sincere,  consistent,  faithful,  and 
hopeful  to  the  last. 

*'He  has  descended  to  the  grave  full  of  years 
and  full  of  honor,  without  a  spot  upon  his  name, 
a  fair  specimen  of  what  a  New  Englander  is,  or 
should  be,  and  leaving  behind  him  a  character 
which  all  justly  thinking  men  may  admire  and 
emulate.     Therefore 

^'Be  it  resolved,  That  this  Society  feels  deeply 
sensible  of  the  loss  which  it  has  sustained  in  the 
death  of  Doddridge  Crocker,  for  a  series  of  years 
its  venerable  and  excellent  president;  and  that 
as  a  testimony  of  respect  for  his  many  and  rare 
virtues  its  members  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  preamble  and 
of  these  resolutions  be  communicated  to  the  only 
surviving  sister  and  to  the  other  relatives  of  the 
deceased,  with  expressions  of  sympathy  and  of 
our  sincere  condolence  with  them  in  their  afflic- 
tive bereavement." 

Doddridge  Crocker  was  for  many  years  a 
prominent  and  active  member  of  the  Circular 
Congregational  Church.  His  tomb  in  the  ceme- 
tery of  that  church  bears  the  following  inscrip- 
tion: 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  37 

IN 

MEMORY   OF 

MR.    DODDRIDGE   CROCKER 

WHO   DIED 

MAY    2IST,    1847 

IN    HIS    79TH    YEAR 


Gently  the  passing  spirit  fled 
Sustained  by  grace  divine 
Oh  may  such  grace  on  us  be  shed 
And  make  our  end  like  thine. 

AARON  SMITH  WILLINGTON 

Aaron  Smith  Willington,  fourth  president  of 
the  New  England  Society,  was  born  at  East  Sud- 
bury, now  Wayland,  Massachusetts,  March  12, 
1781.  His  father  was  Josiah  Willington,  "a 
soldier  of  the  Revolution."  His  mother  died  in 
giving  him  birth;  and  at  the  age  of  ten  he  was 
put  under  the  care  of  his  grandfather,  who  ordered 
him  to  manual  labor,  giving  him  the  advantage 
however  of  attending  school  three  months  annu- 
ally. From  this  early  period  of  his  life  he  earned 
his  own  living;  subsequently  he  was  apprenticed 
to  the  proprietors  of  the  Boston  Palladium,  where 
he  learned  the  art  of  printing. 

He  came  to  Charleston  in  1802  under  the 
auspices  of  Loring  Andrews,  of  Boston,  who  in 

448246 


38  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

1803  established  the  Charleston  Courier  and  made 
young  Willington  his  foreman.  Within  a  decade 
the  energetic  and  ambitious  young  foreman 
became  editor  of  the  Charleston  Courier,  succeed- 
ing the  erudite  Dr.  Frederick  Dalcho,  who  retired 
upon  entering  the  ministry  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church. 

Under  the  able  editorship  of  Mr.  Willington, 
the  Courier  became  one  of  the  leading  newspapers 
of  the  country,  and  was  regarded  highly  in  all 
parts  of  the  United  States  as  an  interpreter  of  the 
best  Southern  thought,  in  the  great  issues  which 
had  at  various  times  agitated  the  country.  In 
the  era  of  nullification,  it  was  the  leading  Union 
organ  in  the  state,  and  upheld  the  Union  against 
what  it  regarded  as  an  unconstitutional  and  incon- 
gruous attempt  to  resist  the  laws  of  the  Union 
within  the  Union.  In  the  secession  crisis  of  1851 
and  1852  it  stiU  upheld  the  flag  of  the  Union  and 
threw  its  weight  in  the  co-operation  against  the 
secession  scale,  as  a  choice  of  evils.  In  the  seces- 
sion era  of  i860  it  held  the  election  of  a  sectional 
president,  on  grounds  of  pohtical  and  fanatical 
hostiHty  to  the  constitutional  rights  and  cherished 
domestic  institutions  of  the  South,  to  be  properly 
and  inevitably  the  kneU  of  Union,  and  went  with 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA     39 

the  state  and  the  South  in  dissolving  a  connec- 
tion with  unfaithful  confederates  and  establishing 
an  independent  Southern  Confederacy.  In  these 
views  Mr.  Willington,  although  of  Northern 
parentage  and  birth,  heartily  concurred;  and  he 
died  as  he  had  lived,  faithful  and  devoted  to  the 
home  of  his  adoption  and  choice  and  the  field  of 
his  useful,  honorable,  and  successful  labors.  In 
proof  of  liis  Southern  feeUng,  in  the  year  i860  he 
said  to  a  friend:  "This  is  my  last  visit  North,  for 
I  am  thoroughly  disgusted  with  abohtionism." 

It  is  of  more  than  passing  interest  to  note  that 
James  Gordon  Bennett  began  his  newspaper 
career  under  the  direction  of  A.  S.  Willington  in 
the  office  of  the  Charleston  Daily  Courier  (as  it 
was  then  called)  as  a  paragraphist  and  translator 
of  Spanish. 

Mr.  WiUington  was  the  fourth  and  last  of  the 
original  members  of  the  New  England  Society  to 
be  chosen  president.  During  his  term  of  office, 
which  covered  a  very  critical  period — from  1847 
to  1862 — the  affairs  of  the  Society  were  managed 
with  great  wisdom  and  wonderful  tact. 

Mr.  Willington  died  February  2,  1862,  in  his 
eighty-first  year.  Among  the  many  tributes 
paid  to  this  noble  Christian  gentleman  by  men  of 


40  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

distinction  from  all  parts  of  the  nation,  two  are 
selected,  both  of  which  were  written  by  intimate 
friends  who  lived  in  Charleston. 

"He  was  a  man  of  great  public  spirit,  liberal 
hospitality,  and  unstinted  benevolence.  Readily 
and  bountifully  did  he  aid,  with  purse  and  influ- 
ence, enterprises  for  the  public  good.  He  ever 
had  a  heart  to  devise  and  a  hand  to  do  liberal 
things.  He  realized  by  a  happy  experience  the 
scriptural  truths  that  'the  liberal  soul  shall  be 
made  fat,'  and  that  'he  that  watereth  shall  be 
watered  himself;  that  'he  becometh  poor  that 
dealeth  with  a  slack  hand,  but  the  hand  of  the 
diligent  maketh  rich' ;  that  '  he  that  hath  pity  on 
the  poor  lendeth  unto  the  Lord,  and  that  which 
he  hath  given,  will  he  pay  him  again ' ;  and  '  often 
did  he  cause  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy.' 
His  was  that  true  and  undefiled  religion  which 
consists  in  visiting  the  widow  and  fatherless  in 
their  affliction,  and  keeping  himself  unspotted 
from  the  world.  There  was  a  daily  beauty  in  his 
life  which,  although  it  made  not  the  lives  of  other 
men  ugly,  yet  served  as  an  example  and  model  for 
imitation,  surrounded  him  with  troops  of  friends, 
and  won  the  general  esteem  and  love  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA     41 

"A  self-made  man,  he  yet  attained  a  high 
degree  of  social  distinction  and  bore  a  prominent 
part  in  political  and  business  life.  He  served  as  a 
warden  or  alderman  of  the  city,  was  a  member  of 
the  state  legislature,  a  director  in  banks  and 
insurance  companies,  even  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  having  been  in  the  directory  of  the  Planters 
and  Mechanics  Bank,  and  a  member  of  various 
charitable  institutions." 

I've  scann'd  the  actions  of  his  daily  life, 

And  nothing  meets  mine  eyes  but  deeds  of  Honor. 

"Of  his  public  career,  his  patriotism,  fidelity, 
and  usefulness  in  various  positions  of  honor  and 
of  trust,  his  record  as  a  good  citizen  is  before  the 
country  and  community.  His  social  virtues,  too, 
the  genial  companionship  with  all  of  all  ages  who 
approached  him,  the  generous  hospitality  which 
he  dispensed  so  cordially  and  gracefully,  endeared 
him  to  many  warmly  attached  friends.  His 
civility  and  the  ordering  of  his  entertairmaent — 
the  reception  and  entertaining  of  his  guests — was 
remarkable  for  its  welcome  and  refinement. 
Though  it  cannot  be  said '  his  eye  was  not  dimmed ' 
in  later  years,  yet  his  natural  force  of  intellect  was 
not  abated  by  the  approach  of  age;  so  far  from 
this,  as  time  alone  can  make  the  almond  tree  to 


42  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

flourish,  so  his  old  age  seemed  to  grow  kinder  and 
kinder  as  he  ripened  for  Heaven,  rendering  him 
more  and  more  attractive  at  the  close  of  life  by 
the  loveliness  of  the  qualities  he  then  displayed. 

"It  frequently  happens  that  the  good  spirit  of 
a  single  mind  makes  the  mind  of  multitudes  take 
a  right  direction.  A  good  example  is  like  a  mirror 
unto  a  generation,  into  which  the  young  can  look 
and  see  reflected  what  is  best  for  their  ultimate 
good,  having  a  more  efficient  influence  upon 
society  than  the  most  stringent  laws  that  can  be 
passed  for  man's  control.  It  is  in  this  way  that 
example  is  more  powerful  than  precept,  and  we 
become  in  this  world  mutuaUy  profitable — 'our 
lives  in  acts  exemplary  not  only  win  for  ourselves 
good  names  but  give  to  others  matter  for  vir- 
tuous deeds!' 

"There  was  in  the  character  of  Mr.  WiUington 
a  repose  and  a  quiet  dignity  which  rendered  it 
eminently  fascinating.  It  is  pleasant  and  will  be 
profitable  to  remember  his  ways  of  life — the  serene 
light  that  seemed  ever  to  be  shining  upon  his  path, 
that  path  so  placid  and  pure.  No  man  ever 
shrunk  more  from  notoriety  than  he  did,  and  yet 
few  men  have  ever  enjoyed  more  popularity  and 
greater  respect  from  their  fellow-men.    His  head 


JOSEPH    WINTHROP 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  43 

and  heart  were  of  the  best  order  to  make  a  man 
beloved.  He  was  not  only  polite,  abounding  in 
the  courtesies  of  life,  but  he  was  much  more  than 
this:  he  was  a  Christian  gentleman,  the  prmciple 
of  whose  life  is  to  conform  himself  as  far  as  pos- 
sible to  the  Image  of  Him  who  was  Himself  the 
incarnate  Image  of  God ! 

"We  ought  to  be  very  grateful  that  such  a 
great  man  was  permitted  to  live  among  us;  and 
as  we  are  not  likely  soon  again  in  the  present 
excited  condition  of  the  country  to  witness  his 
counterpart,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  rising 
generation  will  remember  his  weU-balanced  char- 
acter and  strive  by  Divine  aid  to  imitate  his 
many  virtues." 

Mr.  Willington  was  a  devout  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Church.  His  tomb  in  the  cemetery  of 
St.  Philip's  Church  bears  the  following  inscription: 

SACRED 

TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 

A.    S.    WILLINGTON 

DIED  FEBRUARY    2ND,    1 862 

IN  HIS   8 1  ST   YEAR 

HE   WAS  THE   SENIOR  EDITOR 

OF  THE   CHARLESTON   NEWS   AND   COURIER 

NEARLY   SIXTY   YEARS 

"the  memory  of  the  just  IS  blessed" 


44  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

OTIS  MILLS 

Otis  Mills,  fifth  president  of  the  New  England 
Society,  was  born  at  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts, 
May  8,  1 794.  Early  in  life,  and  when  in  moderate 
circumstances,  he  came  to  Charleston  and  organ- 
ized the  firm  of  O.  Mills  and  Company,  grain  mer- 
chants. His  business  venture  prospered  rapidly, 
and  in  a  very  few  years  he  became  one  of  the  most 
prominent  merchants  and  one  of  the  largest 
owners  of  real  estate  in  Charleston.  In  1845  ^^ 
purchased  the  United  States  Court  House  prop- 
erty, located  at  the  corner  of  Queen  and  Meeting 
streets,  and  four  years  afterward  had  the  building 
pulled  down  and  the  hotel  known  as  the  Mills 
House  erected  on  the  spot.  Mr.  Mills  also  pur- 
chased three  Atlantic  wharves,  which  he  improved 
and  developed. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Society  in  1822,  served  for  many  years  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  on  charity,  and  was  unani- 
mously elected  president  in  1862.  He  was  the 
man  of  the  hour,  and  steered  the  Society  through 
its  most  critical  crisis,  from  1862  to  1869.  It  is 
indeed  wonderful  that  the  New  England  Society 
in  Charleston  should  have  grown  and  prospered 
at  this  crucial  time. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  45 

Mr.  Mills  died  October  23,  1869,  in  the 
seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  member 
of  St.  Michael's  Church  and  is  buried  in  the 
cemetery  attached  to  that  church. 

The  Charleston  News  published  the  following 
appreciation  of  Mr.  Mills  at  the  time  of  his  death : 

"He  came  from  a  family  in  Massachusetts  who 
have  ever  been  closely  identified  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  His  brother,  John  Mills,  was  the 
leader  of  the  party  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  for 
over  twenty  years  district  attorney  for  the  state, 
having  been  appointed  under  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Jackson.  His  nephew,  Darwin 
Beech,  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for  gover- 
nor of  the  state. 

"Mr.  Mills  was  no  politician,  albeit  his  sym- 
pathies were  extremely  Southern,  and  the  'Lost 
Cause'  had  no  more  devoted  friend,  no  more 
staunch  supporter,  than  he.  At  the  inception 
of  the  late  war  he  sold  almost  every  lot  of  city 
land — almost  every  building  that  he  possessed — 
and  invested  the  proceeds  in  Confederate  bonds. 
WTien  he  announced  his  intention  to  sell  the 
'Mills  House'  his  friends  remonstrated  with  him, 
but  remonstrance  was  in  vain  and  that  valuable 
property  was  also  sold.     When  the  citizens  of 


46  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Charleston  were  called  upon  to  aid  the  military 
authorities  in  erecting  fortifications  around  the 
city,  none  responded  more  readily  than  Mr.  Mills, 
and  he  and  his  slaves  were  at  work  incessantly 
day  and  night  where  their  services  were  most 
needed.  His  practical  faith  in  the  success  of  our 
cause  and  his  excessive  generosity  in  risking  his 
fortune  therewith  left  him  at  the  termination  of 
the  war  almost  penniless. 

"During  his  business  career  he  was  known  as 
the  young  man's  friend.  Generous  to  a  fault,  no 
one  ever  applied  in  vain  to  his  office  for  assistance. 
He  was  most  willing  and  always  ready  to  lend 
assistance  to  the  young  man;  and  it  is  said  that 
the  name  of  Otis  Mills  was  more  frequently  on  the 
notes  and  bonds  of  the  younger  portion  of  our 
business  community  than  that  of  any  other  man 
in  the  city.  It  speaks  well  for  Charleston  when 
we  add  that  one  who  was  intimate  with  him  said 
that,  to  his  knowledge,  Mr.  Mills  never  lost  a 
dollar  by  reason  of  his  kind  generosity. 

"A  good  man  has  left  us,  one  who  has  proven 
himseK  a  benefactor  to  the  city  in  the  widest  sense 
of  the  term,  and  his  memory  wall  be  cherished  by 
Charleston  as  one  of  her  dearest  and  most  valued 
sons.     He  was  generous  to  all  who  knew  or  needed 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  47 

his  assistance,  staunch  in  his  devotion  to  the  home 
of  his  choice  and  adoption,  energetic  in  his  busi- 
ness relations,  kind  and  courteous  to  all  with 
whom  he  was  thrown  in  contact,  and  liked  by  all 
who  knew  him.  His  life  was  guided  at  all  times 
by  the  principles  of  the  highest  morality,  and 
exemplified  to  the  fullest  extent '  the  noblest  work 
of  God.'" 


JAMES  BUTLER  CAMPBELL 

James  Butler  Campbell,  sixth  president  of  the 
New  England  Society,  was  born  at  Oxford, 
Massachusetts,  October  27,  1808.  He  graduated 
at  Brown  University  in  1822,  which  institution 
subsequently  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  LL.D. 

His  great  ancestor,  the  Reverend  John  Camp- 
bell, of  the  Scottish  Campbells,  of  London,  was  so 
staunch  an  adherent  of  the  Stuarts  that  in  171 7 
he  came  to  America  a  political  refugee,  and  in 
1 72 1  became  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  at 
Oxford,  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Campbell  came  to  South  Carolina  in  1826 
and  taught  school  a  number  of  years  on  Edisto 
Island.     During  this  period  he  began  the  study  of 


48  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

law,  which  he  subsequently  continued  in  Charles- 
ton, in  the  office  of  Hugh  S.  Legare.  Mr.  Camp- 
bell took  an  active  part  in  public  affairs  and  was 
engaged  in  the  great  nullification  contest.  His 
first  vote  in  South  Carohna  was  cast  on  the  Union 
side.  In  1831  Mr.  Campbell  removed  to  Charles- 
ton and  began  the  practice  of  law.  His  zeal, 
capability,  and  daring  soon  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Union  leaders  of  the  day  and  he  was 
selected  as  one  of  the  delegates  from  Charleston 
to  the  Union  convention  which  met  in  Columbia 
at  a  time  of  intense  excitement,  and  when  it  was 
thought  that  the  duty  involved  personal  danger. 
Mr.  Campbell  afterward  became  the  confiden- 
tial agent  and  correspondent  at  Washington  of 
the  Union  Committee  of  South  Carolina.  While 
there,  he  resided  for  a  time  with  General  Jackson 
at  the  White  House  and  was  in  daily  communica- 
tion with  the  President  and  many  other  prominent 
men.  Among  the  number  was  Daniel  Webster, 
with  whom  Mr.  Campbell  then  renewed  an 
acquaintance  formed  in  his  boyhood.  It  soon 
ripened  into  friendship,  and  Mr.  Campbell  and 
Mr.  Webster  continued  to  correspond  with  each 
other  as  long  as  Mr.  Webster  lived.     In  South 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  49 

Carolina  Mr.  Campbell  had  the  entire  confidence 
of  Drayton,  Cheves,  the  Hugers,  Petigru,  Pringle, 
and  Poinsett.  Their  esteem  he  enjoyed  through- 
out their  lives.  About  the  year  1837  Mr.  Camp- 
bell married  the  youngest  daughter  of  Governor 
Bennett,  of  South  Carohna. 

In  1850-52  political  excitement  in  South 
CaroHna  again  ran  high.  Mr.  Campbell  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  state  legislature  and 
opposed  strenuously  the  extreme  views  and  propo- 
sitions of  that  day.  Finally  he  prepared  and 
carried  through  the  legislature  the  Convention 
Bill,  which  by  its  provisions  and  machinery 
brought  the  questions  at  issue  directly  home  to 
the  people. 

When  the  secession  movement  culminated  in 
South  Carolina,  in  i860,  Mr.  Campbell  stood 
entirely  aloof  and  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for 
election  to  the  legislature  or  to  the  state  conven- 
tion. It  is  claimed  by  those  who  knew  him  best 
that  he  predicted  that  the  Southern  cause  would 
be  lost  if  the  South  began  war  or  allowed  itself 
to  be  made  chargeable  with  the  commencement 
of  hostilities.  He  was  confident  that  it  would 
be  the  policy   of   the  party   then   coming   into 


50  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

power  in  the  Union  to  tempt  the  South  to  com- 
mit some  act  of  aggression.  Mr.  Campbell  there- 
fore opposed  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter, 
and  denounced  publicly  the  declaration  of  Mr. 
Walker,  the  secretary  of  war  of  the  Confederate 
States. 

Mr.  Campbell  beheved  firmly  in  the  justice  of 
the  Southern  cause,  but  believed  that  an  armed 
collision,  unless  in  the  strictest  self-defense,  could 
not  fail  to  be  disastrous.  What  he  apparently 
hoped  for  was  that  there  would  be  a  civil  revolu- 
tion in  politics.  In  1862,  when  the  magnitude  of 
the  struggle  began  to  be  appreciated,  Mr.  Camp- 
bell was  elected  a  member  of  the  legislature, 
serving  in  that  body  with  Governor  B.  F.  Perry. 
Mr.  Campbell  was  one  of  the  minority  in  the 
legislature  who  opposed  the  administration  of 
President  Davis,  while  Governor  Perry  was  the 
leader  of  the  administration  party.  Both  Mr. 
Campbell  and  Governor  Perry  had  been  under 
the  ban  in  the  earlier  days  of  secession  on  account 
of  their  opposition  to  the  policy  which  was  adopted 
by  the  people.  Mr.  Campbell,  in  a  word,  was  a 
Union  man  from  first  to  last.  His  sympathy 
with  the  South  was  ardent,  but  none  loved  the 
Union  more  sincerely  than  he. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  51 

In  December,  1866,  under  the  provisional 
government,  Mr.  Campbell  was  proposed  as  a 
candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate  and  was 
elected.  Concerning  this  election,  a  statement 
from  the  Reverend  Dr.  Boyce  is  of  value. 

"The  gentleman  elected  owed  his  election  in 
some  respects  to  the  valuable  services  he  had  been 
able  to  render  to  the  citizens  of  the  state  while 
visiting  Washington  City  upon  professional  busi- 
ness. It  is  said  that  his  advice  and  favor  were  not 
confined  to  his  clients  but  were  given  gratuitously 
to  other  citizens  who  sought  them.  It  was  dis- 
tinctly avowed  that  to  this  fact,  no  less  than  to 
his  rare  personal  merits,  J.  B.  Campbell  owes  his 
present  position  of  senator-elect  for  six  years  from 
the  4th  of  March  next,  as  well  as  of  the  unexpired 
term  of  Governor  Manning,  who  sent  in  his  letter 
of  resignation  upon  the  election  of  Mr.  Campbell 
as  his  successor. 

"The  senator-elect  is  a  man  of  fine  personal 
presence,  very  astute  intellect,  and  a  debater  of 
great  eloquence,  sarcasm,  and  ingenuity.  He 
occupies  at  present  the  first  position  at  the 
Charleston  bar;  indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  he  is 
there  almost  without  a  rival.    He  is  about  fifty-five 


52  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

years  of  age,  and  bears  in  his  countenance  the 
evidence  of  his  Scotch  ancestry.  There  is  per- 
haps no  man  in  South  Carohna  whose  sympathies 
were  with  the  South  and  yet  whose  love  for  the 
Union  and  the  Constitution  has  been  stronger 
than  that  of  Mr.  Campbell.  His  views  were 
well  known,  and  the  election,  decidedly  the  most 
complimentary  ever  received  for  United  States 
senator,  shows  that  this  state  is  not  disposed  to 
place  a  stigma  upon  a  citizen  who  loves  the 
Union  when  she  knows  that  citizen  to  be  one 
true  and  faithful  also  to  her  interests;  and  more 
than  this,  that  a  man  of  Northern  birth  is  as 
much  regarded  by  her  when  worthy  of  her  confi- 
dence as  though  he  first  drew  breath  upon  her 
own  soil." 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  Southern 
states  were  denied  representation  in  congress 
under  the  provisional  governments,  and  Mr. 
Campbell  was  excluded  with  the  senators  and 
representatives  from  the  other  states  "lately  in 
rebellion." 

Mr.  Campbell's  letter  resigning  his  seat  in  the 
General  Assembly  of  South  Carolina  evinces  his 
fine  literary  ability : 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  53 

House  of  Representatives 

December  20,  1886 

To  the  Honorable  the  Speaker  and  Members  of  the  House 
oj  Representatives 

Gentlemen  : 

Hereby  accepting  the  office  of  a  senator  of  the  United 
States,  to  which  the  choice  of  this  general  assembly  has 
elevated  me,  I  resign  my  place  as  a  member  of  this  house. 

There  is  no  earthly  honor  I  should  as  much  value  as 
the  uninvited  good  opinion  and  confidence  of  the  people 
of  South  Carolina.  That  their  representatives  should 
have  called  me  into  their  service  in  the  place  of  highest 
honor  within  their  gift,  at  a  time  of  extreme  gloom  and 
despondency,  impresses  me  with  feelings  of  profound 
gratitude. 

With  my  official  farewell  to  the  members  of  this 
house,  I  venture  to  tender  to  each,  personally,  the  expres- 
sion of  my  friendship  and  hearty  good  wishes.  There  is 
no  one  of  them,  so  far  as  I  know  or  have  cause  to  believe, 
who  bears  toward  me  any  other  relation  than  of  kindness 
and  considerate  good  will.  I  know  there  is  no  one  of 
them  who  has  not  a  place  in  m.y  friendship  and  an  acknowl- 
edged claim  to  such  kind  offices  as  may  be  in  my  power  to 
offer. 

Considering  the  frailty  of  my  own  excitable  tempera- 
ment, and  the  habitual  collisions  of  debate,  this  I  recog- 
nize as  the  evidence  of  remarkable  forbearance  toward 
me.  The  recollection  of  all  these  things  will  adhere  to 
me  for  the  remainder  of  my  life.  They  will  cheer  me  under 
the  depression  of  a  comparison  with  the  great  intellects 
who  have  preceded  me  through  the  better  days  of    the 


54  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Commonwealth,  and,  adding  strength  to  the  great  debt  of 
gratitude  I  acknowledge,  will  stimulate  me  under  the 
peculiar  responsibilities  of  the  honor  you  have  conferred 
to  steadily  persevere,  to  the  end  that,  even  under  the 
present  glimmering  hope,  I  may  yet  do  something  for 
the  welfare  and  the  honor  of  South  Carolina. 

I  am,  with  great  respect 

James  B.  Campbell 

In  1877  Mr,  Campbell  was  unanimously  nomi- 
nated by  the  Democratic  convention  as  a  candi- 
date for  state  senator  for  Charleston  County  and 
was  elected  without  opposition.  He  never  held 
public  ofhce  again. 

Mr.  Campbell  became  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Society  in  1831.  He  was  elected  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  in  1833,  served  for  a  number  of 
years  as  a  member  of  the  committee  on  charity, 
was  elected  junior  vice-president  in  1851,  senior 
vice-president  in  1866,  and  president  in  1869.  He 
delivered  more  addresses  at  the  annual  celebra- 
tions of  the  Society  than  any  other  president,  with 
the  single  exception  of  Dr.  C.  S.  Vedder.  He  was 
the  first  annual  orator  to  cast  aside  the  established 
custom  of  reading  a  laboriously  prepared  address. 
In  1848  he  delivered  a  masterful  oration  without 
notes  or  memoranda.  His  effort  on  this  notable 
occasion  thrilled  both  members  and  guests. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  55 

Mr.  Campbell  was  an  intimate  friend  and 
staunch  supporter  of  Wade  Hampton.  During 
his  term  as  president  of  the  Society,  Governor 
Hampton  was  invited  to  deliver  an  address  at  the 
annual  celebration,  and,  being  unable  to  attend, 
sent  the  following  letter  of  regret : 

State  of  South  Carolina 
Executive  Chamber 

Columbia,  December  20,  1877 
Gentlemen  : 

It  would  give  me  very  great  pleasure  to  be  with  you 
on  the  2 2d,  but  unfortunately  I  had  made  engagements 
for  that  day  before  the  reception  of  your  poUte  invitation. 
But  for  this  circumstance,  I  should  join  most  cordially  in 
the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  your  Society. 

Regretting  my  inability  to  do  so,  and  with  my  best 
wishes,  I  am, 

Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours 

Wade  Hampton 

Mr.  Campbell  died  November  8,  1883,  in 
his  seventy-sixth  year,  in  Washington,  D.C., 
where  he  had  gone  to  complete  his  work  as  com- 
missioner for  South  Carolina,  under  act  of  congress 
of  1862.  In  this  case,  and  in  many  others,  his 
brilliant  legal  attainments  made  him  the  peer  of 
the  great  lawyers  of  the  nation.  Among  his  last 
words  were:   "I  want  to  be  buried  in  Charleston, 


56  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

because  the  people  of  that  city  speak  so  kindly  of 
the  dead." 

Mr.  Campbell  was  a  staunch  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  His  old  home,  located  on 
Beaufain  Street,  is  now  the  Presbyterian  Home 
for  Indigent  Ladies. 


WILLIAM  SMITH  HASTIE 

William  Smith  Hastie,  seventh  president  of  the 
New  England  Society,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  of  Scotch  parentage,  July  3,  1807.  He  was 
educated  at  Pickett  University,  an  institution  of 
high  repute  at  that  time.  He  married  a  daughter 
of  John  Franklin,  a  descendant  of  the  colonial 
family  after  which  Franklin  Square,  New  York, 
was  named. 

Mr.  Hastie  came  to  Charleston  in  1853  as  the 
mercantile  partner  of  P.  C.  Calhoun,  president  of 
the  Fourth  National  Bank  of  New  York  City. 
The  wholesale  house  of  Hastie,  Calhoun  and 
Company  was  dissolved  in  1869.  Mr.  Hastie 
then  organized  the  insurance  firm  of  W.  S.  Hastie 
and  Son,  which  after  more  than  fifty  years  of 
honorable  service  is  still  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent insurance  agencies  in  the  city  of  Charleston 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  57 

and  is  owned  and  managed  by  one  of  his  descend- 
ants, Mr.  C.  Norwood  Hastie. 

Mr.  Hastie  was  a  director  in  a  number  of  busi- 
ness organizations,  the  organizer  and  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  held  many  other 
positions  of  trust  and  confidence. 

Mr.  Hastie  became  a  member  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  in  1855.  He  served  for  a  number  of 
years  as  a  member  of  the  committee  on  charity, 
was  elected  junior  vice-president  in  1875,  senior 
vice-president  in  1879,  and  president  in  1883.  He 
died  October  22,  1884,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year 
of  his  age. 

In  assuming  the  presidency  of  the  Society,  the 
Reverend  Dr.  C.  S.  Vedder  paid  the  following 
tribute  to  his  predecessor  in  office: 

"When  my  brothers  were  in  Europe  for  years, 
they  placed  their  entire  estates  in  the  hands  of 
William  S.  Hastie,  to  do  with  them  as  his  judg- 
ment should  dictate ;  and  I  have  in  my  possession 
the  correspondence  which  followed  their  return  to 
America,  and  it  is  one  of  which  any  man  might  be 
proud. 

"These  are,  in  substance,  the  words  of  a  letter 
received  since  the  decease  of  our  lamented  presi- 
dent.    They  refer  to  a  period  forty  years  ago,  and 


58  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

are  specially  significant  as  illustrating  the  reputa- 
tion for  stainless  integrity  which  our  friend 
brought  with  him  to  Carolina.  There  is  also  in 
the  possession  of  his  family  today  a  beautiful  and 
costly  service  of  silver,  suitably  inscribed,  pre- 
sented by  the  brothers — of  whom  the  writer  of 
the  above  was  one — testifying  their  appreciation 
of  the  noble  fidelity  of  Mr.  Hastie  in  the  discharge 
of  this  most  delicate  and  responsible  trust.  It 
bears  the  date,  January  i,  1849.  It  was  with  a 
character  and  with  credentials  such  as  these  things 
imply  that  four  years  afterward  our  late  president 
came  to  this  city.  It  was  a  future  which  such 
repute  insured  that  he  voluntarily  relinquished 
when  he  removed  from  the  great  commercial 
center  where  it  was  acquired.  He  gave  up  a 
large,  lucrative,  and  ever-increasing  business  in 
obedience  to  that  which  was  the  ruling  principle 
of  his  life — tender  concern  for  the  health  of  a 
beloved  wife  while  she  lived,  and  devotion  to  her 
memory  until  he  joined  her  in  another  life. 

"For  more  than  thirty  years  Mr.  Hastie  was 
closely  and  prominently  identified  with  the  in- 
terests of  this  city,  maintaining  in  every  sphere 
and  relation  the  same  repute  for  honor,  integrity, 
and  capacity  with  which  he  came  hither. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  59 

"Of  marked  individuality  of  character,  he 
formed  his  own  opinions  and  had  ahvays  the  cour- 
age of  his  convictions.  If  there  were  times  when 
his  views  of  pubHc  poUcy  differed  from  those  of 
very  many  around  him,  his  unfaUering  firmness 
never  failed  to  command  respect  and  never 
impaired  the  relations  of  friendship.  In  the  time 
of  social  and  civil  upheaval  which  immediately 
followed  the  war,  he  was  called  by  the  best  senti- 
ment of  our  community  to  an  official  position  of 
great  delicacy  and  difficulty  in  Charleston,  and 
discharged  its  duties  with  singular  prudence  and 
wisdom.  With  prophetic  insight,  he  counseled 
them  to  a  course  of  political  action  which  vindi- 
cated itself  when  it  was  adopted  ten  years  after- 
ward. Essentially  a  man  of  practical  thought 
and  effort,  Mr.  Hastie  responded  instinctively  to 
every  appeal  of  need  and  trouble.  His  adminis- 
tration of  his  official  duties  brought  upon  him  the 
blessing  of  the  widow  and  orphan,  and  there  lies 
before  the  author  of  these  lines,  as  he  writes,  a 
letter  of  overflowing  gratitude  to  Mr.  Hastie  from 
one  of  historic  name  whom  his  exertions  and  influ- 
ence had  so  munificently  served  that  she  says:  'It 
seems  to  me  that  you  were  raised  to  be  my  true 
friend  by  a  Heavenly  Providence.'" 


6o  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Mr.  Hastie  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

CHARLES  STUART  VEDDER 

Charles  Stuart  Vedder,  eighth  president  of  the 
New  England  Society,  was  born  in  Schenectady, 
New  York,  October  7,  1826.  In  his  boyhood  it 
was  his  ambition  to  become  an  editor.  He 
wished  to  begin  at  the  bottom  and  learn  all  the 
branches,  and  so  he  started  as  a  printer  on  a  small 
paper  in  New  York,  under  the  management  of  the 
Harper  Company.  At  the  end  of  four  years  he 
was  editor  of  the  paper.  Having  accumulated  a 
small  sum  of  money,  he  decided  to  study  for  the 
ministry,  entering  Union  College.  He  was  gradu- 
ated in  185 1  at  the  head  of  his  class.  After 
graduation  from  college  he  developed  throat 
trouble  and  accepted  an  appointment  as  tutor 
and  professor  for  a  number  of  years. 

Deciding  that  a  milder  climate  would  be  bene- 
ficial to  his  health,  he  came  to  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  graduated  with  honors. 
His  first  pastorate  was  at  Summerville,  South 
Carolina.  In  1866  he  became  pastor  of  the  his- 
toric Huguenot  Church,  in  Charleston,  which  posi- 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  6i 

tion  he  held  for  fifty  years.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Charleston  Presbytery  fifty-six  years. 

In  1876  New  York  University  conferred  upon 
him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  The 
College  of  Charleston  conferred  the  same  degree 
simultaneously.  Later  the  College  of  Charleston 
gave  him  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Law. 
Union  College  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Humanities. 

Dr.  Vedder  was  a  member  of  the  Holland 
Society  of  New  York,  and  wrote  a  poem  which 
was  read  at  one  of  its  anniversary  celebrations. 

He  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Huguenot 
Society  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  president 
of  the  Howard  Association  of  Charleston.  He 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Confederate  Home 
and  College,  located  in  Charleston.  He  presided 
at  the  organization  meeting  in  1867  and  at  the 
annual  meetings  for  forty  years  ensuing.  For  a 
number  of  years  he  taught  in  this  institution, 
serving  without  compensation. 

Dr.  Vedder's  reputation  as  a  preacher,  orator, 
and  lecturer  was  nation-wide.  Many  of  his  ser- 
mons, poems,  and  lectures  were  published  and 
widely  read.  He  also  acquired  a  great  reputation 
as  a  postprandial  speaker.     A  distinguished  New 


62  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

York  editor  was  present  at  one  of  the  annual 
celebrations  of  the  New  England  Society  and 
heard  Dr.  Vedder  speak.  His  comment  was:  "I 
have  heard  Chauncey  Depew  at  his  best;  Dr. 
Vedder  is  his  superior," 

Dr.  Vedder  was  elected  to  membership  in  the 
New  England  Society  in  1881.  Three  years  later 
he  became  president,  which  office  he  held  for  thirty- 
two  years.  Upon  the  occasion  of  his  golden  wed- 
ding anniversary  the  Society  presented  to  Dr. 
Vedder  a  large  loving  cup  as  a  token  of  the  affec- 
tion and  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held. 

Dr.  Vedder  died  March  i,  191 7,  in  his  ninety- 
first  year.  At  his  own  request  he  was  buried  by 
the  side  of  his  wife  in  the  cemetery  of  the  New 
England  Society  at  Magnolia. 

Mr.  J.  P.  K.  Bryan,  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
lawyers  in  the  South,  was  designated  by  the 
Society  to  prepare  a  minute  on  the  death  of  its 
venerable  president.     His  worthy  tribute  follows: 

"Charles  Stuart  Vedder,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
L.H.D. 

"A  great  spirit  has  passed  and  yet  abides  with 
us. 

"Others  may  celebrate  the  virtues  of  his 
exalted  life,  his  earnest  patriotism,  his  devotion, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  63 

though  a  stranger  in  this  city,  to  the  Southern 
cause,  and  his  lofty  sacrifice,  renouncing  family, 
early  friends,  and  fortune  in  giving  himself  wholly 
to  the  help  of  the  people  of  the  South  in  the  long 
years  of  their  direst  need,  and  as  a  watchful 
guardian  of  the  orphans  of  her  heroic  dead. 

"It  is  for  others  to  recall  his  ecclesiastical 
learning,  his  power  in  the  pulpit,  and  his  long 
years  of  faithful  service  as  the  pastor  of  the  only 
Huguenot  Church  in  America. 

"A  grateful  people  celebrates  his  big-hearted 
charity  as  the  ever  loyal  friend  of  'Tiny  Tim'  in 
all  the  years  of  this  city. 

"  It  is  moreover  for  others  to  portray  his  poetic 
genius  and  his  literary  gift,  and  to  measure  their 
power  and  influence,  as  it  is  for  those  nearest  to 
him  to  speak  of  the  sacred  communion  of  home 
and  family  and  the  love  and  blessing  he  shed  there. 

"But  here,  in  this  Society,  it  is  our  special 
privilege  that  he  was  one  with  us.  As  our  presi- 
dent for  over  thirty  years,  there  was  for  him  and 
for  us  a  peculiar  bond  of  close  friendship  and 
fellowship.  For  this  Society  he  cherished  a  deep 
affection  and  a  strong  pride  in  all  of  its  history 
and  gave  to  its  upbuilding  the  best  efforts  of  his 
mind  and  heart. 


64  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"He  knew  well  the  deep  foundations  of  the  life 
of  New  England.  He  loved  and  reverenced  the 
stern,  abiding  principles  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers, 
even  as  he  loved  and  reverenced  the  heroic  mould 
and  quenchless  faith  of  the  Huguenot.  He  sought 
here,  in  the  home  of  the  cavalier,  to  keep  the 
sacred  fires  burning  on  aU  these  altars,  and  with 
the  sterner  elements  and  their  spiritual  meaning 
he  sought  ever  to  blend  all  the  graces  of  life  and 
the  charm  of  letters. 

"In  this  Society  he  was  always  at  home  among 
friends,  and  here  his  versatile  gifts  had  full  expres- 
sion; here  he  poured  out  his  heart;  here  his  imagi- 
nation reveled  in  all  kindling  associations,  his 
playful  humor  was  unfailing,  and  the  sallies  of  his 
wit  gave  endless  mirth;  here  indeed  he  was  always 
wise  and  yet  always  human  and  tender. 

"But  his  greatest  service  was  in  making  the 
Society  nation-wide  in  its  fame  and  attracting  here 
great  intellects  in  his  time.  We  will  remember 
him  at  his  best  as  presiding  on  the  great  occasions 
in  celebration  of  Forefathers'  Day,  when  he  was 
indeed  our  noblest  host,  as  it  was  his  pride  to 
give  royal  welcome  to  our  distinguished  guests — 
great  rulers,  judges,  orators,  statesmen,  and  men 
of  letters — and  to  vie  brilliancy  with  those  gifted 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  65 

spirits  that  have  stirred  and  charmed  us  for  two 
generations  about  our  board. 

"And  among  that  goodly  company  of  the 
great  and  learned  his  genial,  familiar  face  stands 
out,  a  shining  memory,  in  abiding  inspiration. 
Although  he  was  ninety  when  he  died,  he  never 
grew  old.  Though  bowed  by  the  weight  of  years, 
his  heart  was  ever  young;  and  though  long  the 
light  had  faded  from  his  eyes,  no  cloud  ever 
rested  on  the  mental  vision  of  the  prophet. 

"And  now  he  has  passed  from  Death  unto 
Life. 

"In  the  words  he  loved  so  well,  'He  asked  life 
of  Thee,  and  Thou  gavest  him  life  forevermore.'" 

In  order  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  Dr.  Ved- 
der's  versatility,  a  short  address  deUvered  at  one 
of  the  anniversary  dinners  of  the  New  England 
Society  and  two  poems  conclude  this  sketch. 

In  an  anniversary  address  he  said: 

"To  say  that  the  Pilgrims  were  not  faultless  is 
but  to  say  that  they  were  human.  But  their  very 
faults  were  so  far  from  being  vices  that  they  were 
virtues  in  excess  and  exaggeration;  they  were 
extremes,  certain  of  rebounding  to  the  mean 
which  circumstances  had  made  them  overpass. 
Certain   tremendous   aspects   of   truth   were   so 


66  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

exclusively  contemplated  as  to  secure  their  com- 
plements and  correlatives.  They  were  momen- 
tarily dazed  by  looking  upon  the  sun.  But  even 
the  acknowledged  defects  of  the  forefathers  had 
their  elements  of  sublimity  whilst  enshrining 
within  themselves  the  principles  of  their  own  cor- 
rection. If  they  seemed  to  fear  more  than  they 
loved  God,  it  was  because  they  would  have  every 
safeguard  against  merely  sentimental  piety.  If 
they  were  intolerant  toward  others,  they  were 
even  more  unsparing  toward  themselves.  We 
may  take  larger  views  now,  but  even  their  views 
were  larger  than  those  the  world  took  elsewhere. 
We  may  take  larger  views  now,  under  a  wider  and 
clearer  firmament  of  knowledge  and  intercourse, 
but  they  were  laying  the  corner  stone  of  a  new 
world,  and  it  must  have  no  speck  or  suspicion  of 
unsoundness;  they  were  nurturing  an  infant  state, 
and  its  first  steps  must  be  such  as  would  insure  its 
right  path  in  maturity;  yea,  they  were  sowing  the 
seeds  of  principles  whose  harvest  a  hemisphere 
should  reap,  and  no  germ  of  weed  or  thistle  must 
drop  into  the  open  furrow  to  choke  the  golden 
grain. 

"Ours  may  be  a  sunnier,  but  it  cannot  be  a 
safer,  faith  than  theirs.    Ours  may  have  a  broader 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  67 

vision,  but  it  can  never  see  clearer  than  theirs  the 
polar  star  of  duty.  Ours  may  be  a  more  pro- 
pitious lot,  but  we  can  never  weave  its  oppor- 
tunities into  a  more  glorious  chapter  than  that 
which  crowns  their  memories.  More  and  more 
the  world  sees  this.  There  is  a  sentiment  which 
challenges  the  eager  suffrage  of  every  right  heart: 

Though  love  repine  and  reason  chafe, 
There  comes  a  voice  without  reply: 
'  'Tis  man's  perdition  to  be  safe, 
When  for  the  Truth  he  ought  to  die.' 

"The  Pilgrim  heard  and  heeded  that  voice,  if 
ever  man  did  upon  earth.  He  was  not  only  ready 
to  die  but  to  brave  far  more  than  death  for  con- 
viction; and  therefore  wherever  the  just,  the 
true,  the  good,  the  brave,  the  self-sacrificing,  the 
generous,  the  noble  are,  of  every  land,  of  every 
tongue,  of  every  lineage,  there  is  an  ever-extending 
throng  who  claim  the  honor  of  a  common  kinship 
in  men  who  illustrated  their  common  humanity, 
and  whose  voices  blend  with  yours  in  perfect  har- 
mony of  acclaim  in  saying,  'The  day  we  celebrate.' 
Can  you  then  too  sacredly  cherish  that  patrimony 
of  memory  which  does  not  become  less  but  more 
yours,  because  to  it  virtue  everywhere  covets  and 
seeks  to  establish  some  claim  of  mutual  heirship  ? 


68  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"As  the  word  'patriot'  denominates  anyone 
who  loves  his  country,  so  the  term  'New  Eng- 
lander'  has  gone  beyond  the  Hmits  of  territory, 
and  embraces  everyone  who  has  the  quahties 
of  thrift,  energy,  self-sacrifice,  and  love.  The 
New  Englander  is  the  man  of  persistence. 
The  New  Englander  is  the  conservator  of  energ>\ 
The  New  Englander  is  the  builder  of  railroads 
and  cities,  of  schools  and  churches.  He  is  a 
friend  of  the  poor.  The  New  Englander  has 
dofie  what  all  men  respect;  he  has  harnessed 
the  ideal  and  the  practical  and  made  them  pull 
together. 

"At  one  time  in  the  late  war  there  occurred  a 
crisis  in  the  Northern  ranks.  Men  were  wet, 
wounded,  and  starving,  and  the  relief  train  had 
broken  down — the  engine  had  become  disabled. 
In  despair,  the  commanding  general  cried  out, 
'Come,  boys,  who  can  fix  this  locomotive?' 
Instantly  there  stepped  from  the  ranks  a  private. 
Walking  up  to  the  broken  monster,  he  patted  her 
on  the  shoulder  and  said,  'I  ought  to  know;  I 
made  her.  General.'  If  at  any  future  time  this 
nation  shaU  become  imperiled,  it  will  be  the  New 
Englanders  who  will  say,  'We  made  the  country; 
I  guess  we  can  save  her.'     The  brotherhood  of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  69 

New  England  has  no  symbol  but  that  of  holy 
energy.  It  is  what  Emerson  calls  the  I  in  power. 
It  goes  everywhere.  Proud  Charleston  by  the  sea 
and  the  Golden  Gate  know  it  as  well  as  Boston  on 
her  tea-steeped  bay.  You  will  never  find  a  New 
Englander  on  the  minus  side  of  the  great  account. 
A  society  like  this  is  true  to  its  principles  when  it 
takes  into  its  membership  not  only  those  of  Pil- 
grim descent  but  also  men  of  Pilgrim  spirit,  born 
a  thousand  miles  or  more  from  that  historic  mass 
of  granite  known  as  the  Pilgrim  Rock. 

"New  Englanders  are  not  like  the  Jews,  con- 
tinually looking  toward  the  Holy  Land  as  their 
final  abiding-place.  But  where  they  work  is  their 
Jerusalem.  They  have  the  patriotism  that  seemed 
to  animate  a  colored  brother  whom  I  saw  in  the 
police  station  not  many  weeks  ago.  A  special 
officer  brought  him  in,  a  great  deal  debihtated 
from  an  overdose  of  applejack,  known  to  a  few  as 
'Jersey  lightning.'  At  any  rate,  the  bolt  had 
struck. 

"'What's  your  name?'  asked  the  orderly  ser- 
geant. 

Dunno.     Lemmy  go.' 
'Not  yet.     Tell  me  your  name  first.' 
Haint  got  no  name.     Lemmy  go.' 


(I  (■ 
(( (■ 


CI  (■ 


70  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"'Tell  me  your  name  and  I  will  let  you  go.' 
I'm  a  poor  man;  haint  got  no  name.' 
Not  too  poor  to  have  a  name.     Tell  me 
your  name!' 

"The  imperious  tone  seemed  to  recall  his  drift- 
ing intelligence,  as  with  an  exultant  leer,  he  said: 

"'I'm  a  son  of  South  CaroUna.  Now  lemmy 
go.' 

"In  life  or  death,  or  worse,  when  drunk,  he 
might  forget  his  name,  but  never  his  native  state. 
Patriotism  may  learn  a  lesson  even  from  the  police 
court.  Let  us  not  forget  that  we  are  the  most 
responsible  people  in  this  country." 

At  the  sixty-first  anniversary  of  the  New 
England  Society,  Dr.  Vedder  responded  to  the 
toast,  "That  Day  and  This."  Dr.  Vedder's 
response  was  a  poem  written  after  the  manner  of 
Hudibras,  and  drawing  a  striking  and  powerful 
contrast  between  the  civilization  of  their  fore- 
fathers— "their  simple  faith  and  true  heroism,  and 
their  magnificent  endurance" — and  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  present  times.  Has  moral  progress, 
he  asked,  kept  pace  with  material  greatness? 
The  closing  lines  of  this  poem,  which  has  already 
been  regarded  as  one  of  Dr.  Vedder's  best  efforts, 
were  as  foUows: 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  71 

How  much,  indeed,  our  times  could  teach 

That  ancient  time  in  grace  and  speech! 

No  lexicon  of  theirs  had  room 

For  such  a  stunning  word  as  "boom." 

Ironic  scorn  ne'er  said  "  too  thin," 

Nor  plumed  itself  a  choice  "hair-pin," 

Or  answered  some  misdoubting  elf, 
"You  know,  of  course,  how  it  is  yourself." 

No  satire's  force  caught  all  its  zest 

In  bidding  man  "adjust  his  vest," 

Or  "Hire  a  hall,"  "mouchoir  his  chin" — 

Or  classic  phrase  to  these  akin. 

No  Pilgrim  lip  did  ever  straddle 

Such  words  as  "mosey"  or  "skedaddle." 
"  Spondoolics  "  were  no  name  for  lucre. 

Nor  did  men  call  deceiving  "euchre." 

They  had,  perhaps,  not  thought  it  fit 

To  bid  a  man  "git  up  and  git." 

To  die  then  owned  death's  dread  effects — 

'Tis  now  but  "passing  in  your  checks." 

And  yet,  methinks,  to  serious  thought. 

The  terms  to  later  language  taught 

May  argue  poverty,  not  wealth; 

May  symptomize  disease,  not  health! 

The  current  deep  hath  noiseless  flow — 

The  pebbly  shallows  babbling  go; 

The  empty  drum  gives  clash  and  clang, 

The  empty  minds  give  trash  and  slang. 

The  solvent  bank  on  gold  upbuilt 

Has  genuine  coin,  not  glittering  gilt — 

The  scheme  no  panic  fear  can  shock 

No  issue  has  of  watered  stock. 


72  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Each  Pilgrim  phrase  as  they  defined  it, 

Had  grand  reserves  of  sense  behind  it. 

Where  speech  with  senseless  sound  is  fraught, 

Be  sure  it  tokens  bankrupt  thought; 

Its  over-issued  scrip  of  phrase 

No  dividend  of  meaning  pays; 

Its  small  change  currency  of  talk 

Of  specie  payment  truth  will  balk. 

To  get,  would  sure  be  no  disaster. 

Old  Pilgrim  gold  for  this  shinplaster. 

Their  earnest,  honest  yea  and  nay 

Said  all  they  meant  or  sought  to  say. 

And  if,  with  sober,  soulful  speech, 

That  ancient  day  our  day  could  teach 

Its  hate  of  sin,  its  dread  of  wrong, 

In  fear  of  God,  undimmed  and  strong. 

Ah,  then,  were  we  more  blessed  than  they, 

And  then  were  this  Time's  halcyon  day — 

For,  clothed  with  strength  they  did  not  know, 

Our  bettered  world  that  strength  would  show! 

Then,  progress,  progess  were,  indeed, 

As  safe  in  step,  as  swift  in  speed  I 

That  this  may  be,  we  hope  and  pray, 

For  this  we  keep  Forefathers'  Day! 

During  the  Civil  War  Dr.  Vedder  was  an 
ardent  sympathizer  with  the  Southern  cause, 
serving  as  chaplain  of  the  state  soldiery  in  General 
de  Saussure's  brigade,  and  after  the  conflict  serv- 
ing as  chaplain  of  Camp  A.  Burnet  Rhett,  United 
Confederate  Veterans. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  73 

The  following  poem  was  written  for  Confed- 
erate Memorial  Day  and  has  been  read  a  number 
of  times  on  similar  occasions: 

Why  mourn  the  dead  whose  ashes  lie 

Enshrined  in  native  sod, 
Who  thought  it  sweet  and  right  to  die 

For  liberty  and  God  ? 

Ah!    Not  to  question  God's  behest 

That  made  their  valor  vain, 
And  not  to  break  the  honored  rest 

Of  martyr  brothers  slain. 
And  not  to  wish  that  they  had  feared 

Their  duty's  call  to  heed, 

But  saved  the  lives  to  us  endeared 

With  timid  soul  and  deed ! 
Ah,  no!    Ah,  no!    The  bloodiest  shroud 

That  wraps  their  precious  clay 

Were  purple  royal,  rich  and  proud, 

Compared  with  shame's  array. 
And  laurel,  by  their  sisters  brought 

And  brothers  crowned  their  dust. 
To  hail  the  cause  for  which  they  fought 

As  overborne,  though  just. 

These  mounds  of  earth  such  virtues  tell 

In  men  who  wore  the  Gray, 
As  bid  us  live  as  bravely  well 

And  stainless  die  as  they. 


74  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Their  dust  with  tenderest  pathos  pleads, 
From  'neath  each  voiceless  stone 

That  we  should  make  life's  noblest  deeds 
The  mould  to  shape  our  own! 


The  ninth  president  of  the  New  England 
Society  is  the  author  of  this  history  and  a  descend- 
ant of  Henry  Way,  original  settler,  Dorchester, 
Massachusetts,  1630. 


UUUUHlUO.t   CKOCKfcR 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  75 


DISTINGUISHED   MEMBERS 

MARTIN  LUTHER  HURLBUT 

"  Martin  Luther  Hurlbut  was  born  at  South- 
ampton, Massachusetts,  May  i,  1780.  His  boy- 
hood was  spent  on  a  farm,  where  he  assisted  his 
parents  in  earning  a  modest  Hving. 

"His  education  was  such  as  is  usually  bestowed 
upon  the  village  boys  of  New  England,  but  his 
mind,  early  and  deeply  impressed  with  the  value 
of  knowledge,  pressed  forward  to  its  attainment 
with  a  vigor  and  steadiness  never  relaxed  through 
his  long  life.  At  an  early  age  he  entered  Williams 
College  and  there  received  such  instruction  as  the 
then  limited  means  of  that  institution  could 
afford.  After  graduation  in  1804,  he  continued 
and  completed  under  the  roof  of  the  venerable 
Dr.  Appleton  the  studies  appropriate  for  the 
Christian  ministry,  upon  which  he  had  resolved  to 
enter.  The  tenets  which  had  been  instilled  into 
his  mind  from  childhood  were  Calvinistic,  and 
such  was  his  profession  of  faith.  To  one,  how- 
ever, of  such  a  clear  and  forcible  intellect,  and 
withal  of  so  true,  pure,  and  loving  a  heart,  the 


76  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

inconsistencies  of  the  system  were  apparent,  and 
the  appalling  injustice  of  its  leading  tenets  jarred 
strangely  on  his  soul.  Then  ensued  the  long 
struggle  of  the  spirit  and  the  custom,  not  resolved 
into  a  solid,  unwavering  certainty  for  many  years. 
A  disease  from  which  he  never  fully  recovered 
having  compelled  him  to  abandon  the  pulpit,  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  tasks  of  a  teacher.  The 
slight  traces  in  possession  of  his  family  scarcely 
mark  the  outline  of  his  life  at  this  period  until 
about  1807,  when  he  resided  in  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire.  There  in  the  admirable  society 
which  that  place  afforded  and  in  the  intimate 
converse  with  minds  of  high  order,  some  of  which 
still  illuminate  the  country,  he  trained  and  culti- 
vated the  powers  of  his  mind  and  won  a  high  posi- 
tion as  a  classical  and  general  scholar.  But  this 
state  of  things  was,  like  the  few  other  sunny  spots 
of  his  life,  but  of  short  duration.  He  was  driven 
by  pulmonary  complaints  to  seek  a  more  southern 
clime  and,  after  a  short  visit  to  South  America, 
settled  in  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  as  the  presi- 
dent of  a  college  established  in  that  place.  His 
character  and  unrivaled  skill  in  imparting  knowl- 
edge soon  attached  to  him  many  friends,  who 
adhered  to  him  notwithstanding  the  fierce  poUtical 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  77 

animosities  dividing  the  country  upon  the  subject 
of  the  approaching  war.  Robert  W.  Barnwell, 
who  was  graduated  with  first  honor  at  Harvard 
University  in  the  class  of  1821,  of  which  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  was  a  member,  and  who  subse- 
quently became  United  States  Senator  from 
South  Carolina  and  president  of  the  South  Caro- 
lina CoUege,  and  John  A.  Stuart,  a  distinguished 
editor  of  the  Charleston  Mercury,  were  pupils  of 
Mr.  Hurlbut  at  Beaufort.  Here,  too,  he  formed 
an  attachment,  concluded  by  marriage  with 
Miss  Lydia  Bunce.  In  181 5  he  removed  to  the 
city  of  Charleston,  whither  his  reputation  had 
preceded  him,  and  commanded  for  him  a  school 
unequaled  perhaps  in  number,  and  from  which 
issued  many  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the 
present  time  in  that  city,  and  in  the  state.  Among 
Mr.  Hurlbut's  pupils  in  Charleston  was  Stephen 
Elliot,  who  afterward  became  the  first  bishop  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  state  of  Georgia. 

"For  a  long  series  of  years  his  reputation  and 
usefulness  continued  to  increase,  and  his  eminent 
abilities  ripened  with  time  and  extended  farther 
and  farther  his  acquisitions.  But  his  health,  never 
firm,  yielded  more  and  more  to  the  incessant  labor 
of  his  profession  and   the  influence   of  climate. 


78  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Added  to  this,  numerous  and  severe  private  afflic- 
tions bent  him  to  the  earth.  A  wife  tenderly  loved, 
child  after  child  dear  to  the  affections  and  full  of 
bright  promise  and  proud  hope,  perished  around 
him.  He  was  persuaded  that  change  of  residence, 
the  more  bracing  air  of  a  northern  clime,  would  en- 
due him  with  more  strength  to  fulfil  his  duties  and 
prolong  an  existence  most  important  to  his  de- 
pendent family.  He  had  married  again,  in  1823, 
Miss  Margaret  Morf ord,  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey, 
who  fulfilled  a  mother's  duty  to  the  children  of  his 
first  marriage.  With  her  and  those  who  still 
remained  to  form  the  family  circle,  he  moved  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  established  a  school  for 
boys.  Horace  Howard  Furness,  who  became 
famous  as  a  Shakespearean  scholar  and  legal 
writer,  was  a  student  in  this  school. 

"But  it  is  from  his  connection  \vith  Unitarian 
Christianity  that  peculiar  mention  is  here  due  to 
Mr.  Hurlbut.  He  was,  in  truth,  among  the  most 
efficient  in  establishing  the  Unitarian  congrega- 
tion in  Charleston,  and  frequently  lent  his  aid  to 
the  defense  and  maintenance  of  the  positions  he 
believed.  Having  himself  by  many  struggles 
arrived  at  the  truth  and  cast  off  the  domination  of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  79 

custom  and  education,  he  was  fully  master  of  the 
subject  and  an  admirable  guide  to  those  who  were 
still  uncertain  of  the  road.  Nor  can  this  influ- 
ence of  his  be  better  sketched  than  in  the  words  of 
a  funeral  discourse  pronounced  by  the  Reverend 
Dr.  Oilman  in  the  Unitarian  Church  of  Charleston, 
upon  receipt  of  the  news  of  his  death. 

"'Although  educated  a  Calvinist,  and  having 
commenced  preaching  in  the  belief  of  that  religious 
denomination,  yet  his  mind  had  long  been  gradu- 
ally assuming  more  liberal  views  of  Christianity. 
He  had  been  an  associate  of  the  youthful  and  elo- 
quent Buckminster,  and  was  intimate  with  the 
excellent  Dr.  Parker,  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp- 
shire. Accordingly  he  entered  with  the  fullest 
and  most  active  sympathy  into  all  the  struggles, 
principles,  and  conduct  of  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Forster.  When  Mr.  Forster  felt  constrained  to 
promulgate  those  views  of  Unitarian  Christianity 
which  resulted  in  the  separation  of  this  church,  he 
was  countenanced  and  supported  in  the  most 
effectual  manner  by  Mr.  Hurlbut,  who,  in  con- 
junction with  the  late  Judge  Lee,  Mr.  Hugh 
Paterson,  and  several  other  votaries  of  religious 
liberty,  secured  the  existence,  establishment,  and 


8o  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

subsequent  prosperity  of  this  religious  society. 
He  was  willing  to  stake  his  popularity,  his  stand- 
ing, and  his  prospects  of  future  support  on  a  cause 
which  he  deemed  to  involve  the  best  and  dearest 
interests  of  society,  and  which,  from  profound 
and  patient  study,  he  felt  convinced  was  identical 
with  all  necessary  and  fundamental  religious 
truth.  Few  of  you  who  are  now  enjoying  in  quiet 
your  spiritual  privileges  can  appreciate  the  degree 
of  Christian  heroism  required  to  introduce  a  new 
modification  of  religion  against  the  prejudices, 
convictions,  and  opposition  of  a  whole  community. 
But  with  all  the  tremulous  uncertainty  of  the 
experiment,  Mr.  Hurlbut  and  his  coadjutors  man- 
fully took  the  stand.  He  defended  the  ark  in 
which  were  deposited  his  most  precious  spiritual 
treasures  by  his  tongue,  by  his  pen,  by  his  sub- 
stance, by  the  sacrifice  of  his  ease,  and  the  exposure 
of  all  those  earthly  blessings,  which  less  disinter- 
ested men  imagine  are  the  first  to  be  looked  after. 
He  wrote  several  impressive  essays  in  the  Uni- 
tarian Defendant  in  1822.  He  published  a  charm- 
ing life  of  Mr.  Forster;  and  he  still  continued  to 
enlighten  and  favor  the  public  by  several  essays 
inserted  in  the  Christian  Examiner  and  among 
the  tracts  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  8i 

But  it  was  not  so  much  by  his  active  pubhc 
exertions  or  by  the  multipHcation  of  his  felicitous 
writings  as  by  the  experimental  workings  of  reli- 
gion in  his  interior  character  that  Mr.  Hurlbut 
deserved  the  epithet  of  "godly."  He  cherished  a 
habitual,  living,  perceptible  sense  of  the  Divine 
government  in  the  world.  You  could  not  be 
acquainted  with  him  without  recognizing  the 
power  and  beauty  of  his  faith.  I  never  saw  and 
I  never  read,  in  any  instance  of  an  uninspired 
character,  of  the  sentiment  of  religion  employed 
so  availably,  so  efficaciously,  so  successfully,  and 
even  so  triumphantly,  against  the  mighty  inroads 
of  affliction  and  adversity,  as  in  the  case  of  him 
to  whom  these  brief  and  imperfect  notices  are 
devoted.  Storm  after  storm  of  disaster  fell  upon 
him;  child  after  child  of  extraordinary  and  pre- 
cocious promise  was  snatched  from  his  embrace; 
year  after  year  of  pain,  debility,  and  disease 
seemed  to  drag  him  through  existence,  yet  still 
you  found  him  erect,  elastic,  calm,  cheerful  even, 
for  his  soul  amidst  every  earthquake  had  leaned 
palpably  upon  its  God.  This  was  not  stoical 
indifference,  for  he  had  the  keen  susceptibilities 
of  a  child.  It  was  the  power  of  his  clear  and 
deliberate  faith.    Thus  he  continued  to  the  last. 


82  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Death  came  upon  him  unexpectedly  indeed,  but 
took  him  not  by  surprise.  He  cahnly  made  his 
preparations  as  for  a  journey  of  tomorrow  morn- 
ing. '^  I  shall  soon  be  with  them,^^  he  said,  alluding 
to  the  departed  spirits  of  his  family.  Wearied 
and  shattered,  but  not  crushed  or  subdued,  the 
hero  of  many  a  mighty  moral  struggle,  the  sym- 
pathizing follower  of  Him  who  was  the  man  of 
sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,  he  wrapped  his 
drapery  around  him,  and  after  a  pilgrimage  of 
sixty-three  years,  he  fell  asleep,  or  rather  he 
awoke  to  an  eternal  existence.' 

"Such  is  some  outline  of  the  life  of  one  whose 
desert  was  that  of  a  retiring  nature,  whose  pur- 
suits and  habits  were  so  secluded  and  domestic 
that  they  claimed  and  received  none  of  that 
public  and  popular  reward  which  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances frequently  bestows  upon  lesser  attain- 
ments. His  light  never  shone  in  public  except 
when  struck  out  by  collision  with  what  he  con- 
ceived popular  error,  and  only  on  rare  occasions 
did  he  put  forth  his  powers.  The  strength  of  his 
intellect  and  the  solidity  of  his  moral  faculties 
were  only  equaled  by  the  depth  of  his  affections; 
and  hence  resulted  a  character  of  rare  balance  and 
harmony  fully  equipped  either  to  act  or  to  suffer. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  St, 

"He  has  fought  the  good  fight  and  left  to  those 
whose  career  has  not  yet  closed  '  the  memory  of 
a  well-spent  life.'  To  those  who  knew  him  and 
regarded  him,  in  the  words  of  his  Master,  we 
would  say,  'If  ye  loved  me,  ye  would  rejoice, 
because  I  go  to  the  Father.'" 

The  above  quotation  is,  with  the  insertion  of  a 
few  facts,  from  the  Christian  Examiner  for  Sep- 
tember, 1843. 

Mr.  Hurlbut  became  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Society,  April  7,  1819,  the  year  the 
Society  was  organized. 

In  1828  Mr.  Hurlbut  published  an  anonymous 
brochure — a  very  strong  constitutional  argument 
against  nullification,  entitled  Review  of  a  Late 
Pamphlet,  under  the  signature  of  "Brutus." 
"Brutus"  was  R.  J.  Tumbull. 

Two  of  Mr.  Hurlbut's  sons  became  distin- 
guished: Major-General  Stephen  Augustus  Hurl- 
but of  the  Union  Army,  a  son  of  his  first  marriage; 
and  William  Henry  Hurlbut,  the  founder  and  first 
editor  of  the  New  York  World,  a  son  of  his  second 
marriage. 

Mr.  Hurlbut  died  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsyl- 
vania, January  17,  1843. 


84  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

WILLIAM  CRAFTS,  JR. 

William  Crafts,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  January  24,  1787.  His  ancestors 
came  to  Charleston  from  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
William  Crafts,  Sr.,  was  for  many  years  an  emi- 
nent merchant  of  Charleston  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  New  England  Society.  WiUiam 
Crafts,  Jr.,  was  graduated  from  Harvard  at  the 
early  age  of  eighteen.  He  returned  to  Charleston 
and  began  the  study  of  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  four  years  later.  He  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  South 
Carolina  in  181 1  and  again  in  1813.  ^^  181 7,  just 
twelve  years  after  his  graduation,  young  Crafts 
was  selected  as  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Orator  at 
Harvard,  which  was  an  exceptional  honor.  His 
oration  on  that  occasion  evoked  scholarly  com- 
mendation. He  was  passionately  fond  of  citizen 
soldiership,  and  at  an  early  age  became  com- 
mander of  the  Washington  Light  Infantry,  a 
corps  originating  before  the  War  of  181 2  and 
which  has  fought  heroically  in  every  war  in  which 
this  nation  has  been  involved  for  over  one  hundred 
years.  William  Lowndes  was  the  first  comman- 
der of  this  gallant  military  company. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  8$ 

William  Crafts,  Jr.,  became  a  member  of  the 
New  England  Society  in  1819. 

He  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  he  was  a  member  of  the  state 
senate,  where  he  had  rendered  conspicuous  service 
since  1820. 

In  an  address  delivered  before  the  Charleston 
Library  Association  upon  the  occasion  of  the  pres- 
entation of  a  portrait  of  WiUiam  Crafts,  Jr.,  as 
jurist,  orator,  scholar,  and  legislator,  the  Honor- 
able J.  W.  Barnwell  said: 

"He  entered  life  under  the  most  favorable 
auspices.  'He  was  admired,'  says  Hugh  Legare, 
who  knew  him  well,  'even  to  idolatry,  for  his 
talents  and  accomplishments — honored  with  the 
confidence  of  the  virtuous  and  the  attentions  of 
the  fashionable  and  the  gay — and  seeming  to  have 
at  his  command  whatever  could  gratify  the 
fondest  ambition  of  an  aspiring  young  man.' 

"These  bright  promises  were  never  fulfilled. 
The  lack  of  habits  of  industry,  the  fondness  for 
convivial  society,  the  choice  of  the  losing  side  in 
poHtics,  for  he  was  a  Federalist  in  his  views,  pre- 
vented his  short  life  from  being  successful  and  he 
died  with  his  ambition  ungratified. 


86  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"His  literary  work,  so  far  as  we  now  know  it,  is 
contained  in  a  volume,  containing  a  selection  from 
his  miscellaneous  writings.  It  consists  of  orations 
and  addresses  delivered  on  various  occasions,  fugi- 
tive pieces  contributed  to  the  newspapers  of  the 
day,  and  verses  published  from  time  to  time.  The 
orations  are  more  ornate  and  metaphorical  than 
the  taste  of  the  present  more  severe  and  prosaic 
age  approves,  yet,  aided  by  his  melodious  voice 
and  pleasing  manner,  doubtless  deserved  the 
applause  which  they  assuredly  received.  Legare, 
whose  criticism  of  his  work  in  the  Southern  Review 
is  certainly  severe,  nevertheless  thus  describes  a 
speech  delivered  in  the  South  Carolina  legislature 
on  the  impeachment  of  a  minor  judicial  officer  for 
injustice  and  oppression: 

"  'We  shall  never  forget  his  manner  of  dehver- 
ing  that  speech,  which,  for  a  young  man,  was  truly 
admirable  and  has  in  some  respects  probably  never 
been  surpassed  on  that  floor.  His  shrill  but  musi- 
cal voice,  elevated  to  a  thrilling  pitch,  his  fine 
countenance  animated  with  the  ardor  of  debate, 
that  perfect  grace  and  decorum  of  his  gesticula- 
tion, free  from  all  constraint  or  artifice,  the 
unaffected  elegance  and  manly  simplicity  of  his 
diction,  the  clearness  of  his  statements,  the  close- 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA     87 

ness  and  cogency  of  his  reasonings,  the  apparent 
disinterestedness  of  his  zeal,  his  lofty  indignation 
against  injustice,  the  vigor  and  perseverance  with 
which  he  maintained  his  ground  in  the  debate 
against  a  formidable  array  of  talent  and  influ- 
ence— all  conspired  to  give  earnest  of  a  high  de- 
gree of  excellence  at  a  more  advanced  period  of  life. 

"  'His  noblest  effort,  however,  was,  I  think,  in 
behalf  of  the  free  schools  of  the  state,  when  an 
attempt  was  made  to  suspend  the  appropriation 
for  that  purpose  during  the  War  of  181 2.  He 
spoke  as  follows : 

"  '  "Who  that  has  seen  man  in  a  high  state  of 
improvement,  in  the  midst  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
actuated  by  the  desire  and  blessed  with  the  means 
of  usefulness,  full  of  noble  ambition  and  gaining 
in  their  turn  all  its  honorable  rewards,  who,  I  say, 
can  appreciate  the  immense  disparity  between 
such  an  individual  and  the  unhappy  being,  born 
and  living  and  d>dng  in  penury  and  ignorance  ? 

"  '  "Sir,  my  compassion  is  always  painfully 
excited  by  the  condition  of  many  of  the  country 
people  whom  I  see  on  my  journey  here.  Without 
education  themselves,  or  the  means  of  imparting 
it  to  their  children,  how  many  sources  of  happi- 
ness and  utility  to  them  are  forever  closed !    How 


88  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

much  of  intellect  is  there  running  wild  and  waste! 
How  much  of  manly  ardor  and  sensibility,  with- 
out an  object  to  elicit  them!  How  much  help- 
lessness against  the  misfortunes  of  life !  How  much 
of  the  vice  and  misery  which  are  the  lot  of  igno- 
rance ! 

"  '  "In  several  of  their  lowly  cottages  I  have 
seen  signs  of  those  mental  fires  that  are  doomed  to 
struggle  in  vain  for  exercise  and  display.  I  have 
seen  beauty  buried  in  obscurity,  as  in  a  premature 
grave,  and  genius,  unconscious  of  its  aims  or  its 
powers,  indolent  and  useless. 

"  '  "As  I  pitied  their  situation,  I  was  delighted 
with  their  reply,  when  we  addressed  these  humble 
inhabitants  of  the  woods  and  proffered  the 
means  of  instruction  on  behalf  of  the  state;  we 
were  as  wise  as  we  were  liberal.  We  consulted 
their  happiness  not  more  than  the  state's.  We 
unveiled  to  them  their  duties  and  their  rights. 
We  extended  the  horizon  of  their  hopes  and  their 
views.  We  opened  to  them  a  new  world,  hitherto 
occupied  by  the  rich  almost  exclusively;  and, 
rescuing  them  from  their  obscure  destiny,  we 
bade  them  aspire  after  all  the  needs  of  emulation. 

" '  "If  we  aboHsh  free  schools,  let  the  eagle  be 
removed  from  over  your  head,  Mr.  Speaker.     It  is 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  89 

the  image  of  a  bird  that  hves  upon  light.  It  can- 
not endure  darkness.  Either  shroud  it  in  mourn- 
ing, or  send  it  away."  ' 

"In  memory  of  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  educa- 
tion, one  of  the  pubHc  schools  in  our  city  has  been 
given  his  name. 

"The  poetry  of  Crafts  meets  the  approval 
neither  of  Legare  nor  of  Professor  Trent,  and  yet 
I  venture  to  agree  with  Mr,  Lewisohn  in  his  inter- 
esting articles  on  the  literature  of  South  Carolina 
when  he  says  with  regard  to  some  of  it  that  no 
verse  more  graceful  or  tender  had  been  written  in 
America  up  to  that  time,  and  none  more  surely 
deserves  a  place  in  any  anthology  of  early  Ameri- 
can poetry,  and  I  select  for  quotation  the  extract 
given  by  him: 

The  snowdrop  is  in  bloom, 
And  the  young  earth's  perfume 
Scents  new  the  floating  air; 
It  is  the  breath  of  love — 
Beneath,  around,  above. 
Young  love  is  there. 
Come  let  us  try  to  snare  him — see, 
Love  smiling  waits  for  you  and  me. 
Bind  him  with  the  jasmine  flower, 
Hide  him  in  a  myrtle  bower, 
On  the  thornless  roses  let  him  rest; 
See  his  gracious  eyelids  move, 


90  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Hope  and  joy  are  eyes  of  love, 
Kiss  them  and  be  blest. 
Love  gives  his  own  dear  heart  to  thee, 
One-half  for  you,  one-half  for  me. 

"  Of  course,  South  Carolina  at  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century  was  not  Greece  or  Rome,  or  Eng- 
land or  France,  or  Italy  or  Germany — ^but  in  com- 
parison with  early  American  verse  of  the  kind 
Crafts  does  not  suffer." 

At  the  second  anniversary  dinner  of  the  New 
England  Society  of  Charleston,  December  22, 
1820,  William  Crafts,  Jr.,  delivered  the  following 
address: 

"  On  this  day,  two  hundred  years  ago,  a  handful 
of  individuals  landed  at  an  inclement  season,  on  an 
unknown  and  barren  coast;  in  the  land  of  pesti- 
lence, on  the  territory  of  the  savage.  Fraud  or 
accident  had  diverted  the  course  of  their  voyage, 
and  they  were  placed  beyond  the  protection,  weak 
as  it  was,  of  European  charters.  Neither  the 
Church  nor  the  State  accorded  them  the  privilege 
of  monopoly  or  of  participation,  and  they  landed 
with  no  better  plea  than  their  necessities,  and  no 
protector  but  their  God. 

"  Providence  was  not  unmindful  of  them.  That 
they  might  with  scrupulous  honesty  occupy  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  91 

soil,  its  former  inhabitants  had  perished  by  dis- 
ease or  wandered  into  exile;  that  they  might  in 
infancy  be  secure  from  Indian  warfare,  the  natives 
had  been  withdrawn  from  the  seashore;  and  lest 
famine  should  involve  them  in  early  ruin,  the 
scanty  granaries  of  the  savage  became  the  treasure- 
trove  of  the  stranger.  The  soil  was  rugged  and 
mountainous,  indicating  the  labor  and  persever- 
ance which  its  culture  required.  It  had  not  the 
baneful  reputation  of  gold  and  silver  mines,  the 
cheap  ruin  of  adventurers  and  nations.  It  was 
primitive  and  virginal,  like  the  snows  that  invested 
it.  Scarce  a  path  on  its  surface  but  the  track  of 
the  hunter  and  his  game,  scarce  a  sound  in  its 
forests  but  the  rude  chorus  of  the  winds. 

"Well  may  we  ask  what  worldly  inducement 
impelled  this  little  band  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  away  from  their  friends  and  their  home, 
in  a  little  barque,  across  the  perilous  ocean,  to  an 
ice-bound,  rocky  shore.  Was  it  ambition — that 
master-passion  of  the  human  breast  that  knows 
no  difficulties  in  the  pursuit  of  power  ?  To  charge 
them  with  ambition  were  to  accuse  them  of 
lunacy.  Was  it  avarice — that  chameleon  curse 
of  our  nature,  which  assimilates  us  to  all  climates 
and  all  suffering  in  pursuit  of  gain  ?    They  had  no 


92  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

means  to  traffic  and  no  arms  to  plunder.  Were 
they  convicts,  doomed  to  expiate  among  the 
savage  their  sins  among  the  civilized  ?  They  had 
been  sinned  against,  not  sinned  themselves.  It 
was  that  sense  of  wrong  which  he  who  feels  it  at 
all  feels  most  acutely,  and  forgives  never.  It  was 
that  species  of  oppression  which  he  who  endures 
all  else  never  will  endure,  that  gave  birth  to  this 
desperate  and  heroic  enterprise.  You  may  invade 
a  man's  opinions,  one  by  one,  and  dispossess  him 
of  them  all,  until  you  interfere  with  his  religious 
sentiments  and  his  rights  of  conscience.  You 
then  strike  a  spring  whose  elasticity  increases 
with  its  pressure,  rallying  every  other  power  in 
the  system  and  quickening  the  motion  of  them  aU. 
You  provoke  his  love  of  truth — his  regard  for 
early  impressions — his  sense  of  duty — his  hopes  of 
happiness — his  pride — his  zeal — his  obstinacy — 
his  chagrin  and  his  resentment.  He  who  would 
willingly  encounter  these  knows  nothing  of  the 
lessons  of  history.  It  appears  to  be  the  decree 
of  God  that  religious  persecution  shall  avail  its 
authors  only  shame  and  remorse,  while  it  endows 
its  victims  with  extraordinary  courage,  insures 
them  the  Divine  protection,  and  fits  them  for 
heroic  suffering  and  achievement. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  93 

"The  ancestors  of  New  England,  driven  from 
their  home  by  the  persecution  of  Laud,  after  a 
short  residence  in  Holland,  where  religious  and 
political  discussions  prevailed  with  much  force 
and  freedom,  embarked  for  America  in  the  hope 
of  enjoying  religious  liberty,  if  not  at  home,  yet 
under  the  authority  of  their  monarch.  They 
asked  his  license  to  live  in  an  uncomfortable 
wilderness,  crowded  with  dangers;  but  so  obnox- 
ious were  their  doctrines  and  so  slighted  their 
loyalty  that  they  were  refused  protection  and 
only  promised  indifference.  They  came,  however, 
and  the  treachery  of  the  Dutch,  who  had  furnished 
them  a  refuge,  caused  them  to  be  landed  far  north 
of  their  original  destination. 

"Houseless,  frozen,  miserable  outcasts!  Why 
not  forsake  your  hopeless  enterprise,  and  leave 
the  great  men  of  the  earth  the  costly  office  of 
planting  colonies,  enlightening  the  heathen,  and 
taming  the  savage  ? 

"'It  was  not,'  to  use  their  own  language,  'with 
us  as  with  common  men,  whom  small  things  could 
discourage  or  small  discontents  cause  to  wish  to 
be  again  at  home.'  They  formed  on  board  their 
ship  a  plan  of  civil  and  poUtical  government,  a 
strict  and  'sacred  bond  to  take  care  of  the  good 


94  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

of  the  whole,'  and  disembarked  with  a  fearless 
intrepidity,  inspired  by  conscience  and  justified 
by  Heaven. 

"If  on  this  day,  after  the  lapse  of  two  cen- 
turies, one  of  the  Fathers  of  New  England, 
released  from  the  sleep  of  death,  could  reappear 
on  earth,  what  would  be  his  emotions  of  joy  and 
wonder!  In  lieu  of  a  wilderness,  here  and  there 
interspersed  with  solitary  cabins,  where  life  was 
scarcely  worth  the  danger  of  preserving  it,  he 
would  behold  joyful  harvests,  a  population 
crowded  even  to  satiety — ^villages,  towns,  cities, 
states,  swarming  with  industrious  inhabitants, 
hills  graced  with  temples  of  devotion,  and  valleys 
vocal  with  the  early  lessons  of  virtue.  Casting 
his  eye  on  the  ocean,  which  he  past  in  fear  and 
trembling,  he  would  see  it  covered  with  enterpris- 
ing fleets  returning  wdth  the  whale  as  their  captive, 
and  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  for  their  cargo.  He 
would  behold  the  little  colony  which  he  planted 
grown  into  gigantic  stature  and  forming  an  honor- 
able part  of  a  glorious  confederacy,  the  pride  of 
the  earth  and  the  favorite  of  Heaven.  He  would 
witness  with  exaltation  the  general  prevalence  of 
correct  principles  of  government  and  virtuous 
habits  of  action;  how  gladly  would  he  gaze  upon 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  95 

the  long  stream  of  light  and  renown  from  Har- 
vard's classic  fount,  and  the  kindred  springs  of 
Yale,  of  Providence,  of  Dartmouth,  and  of  Bruns- 
wick. Would  you  fill  his  bosom  with  honest 
pride,  tell  him  of  Franklin,  who  made  the  thunder 
sweet  music  and  the  lightning  innocent  fireworks 
— of  Adams,  the  venerable  sage  reserved  by 
heaven,  himseh  a  blessing,  to  witness  its  blessings 
on  our  nation — of  Ames,  whose  tongue  became 
and  has  become  an  angel's — of  Perry, 

Blest  by  his  God  with  one  illustrious  day, 
A  blaze  of  glory,  ere  he  passed  away. 

"And  tell  him:  Pilgrim  of  Plymouth,  these 
are  thy  descendants.  Show  him  the  stately  struc- 
tures, the  splendid  benevolence,  the  masculine 
intellect,  and  the  sweet  hospitality  of  the  metropo- 
lis of  New  England.  Show  him  that  immortal 
vessel  whose  name  is  synonymous  with  triumph 
and  each  of  her  masts  a  scepter.  Show  him  the 
glorious  fruits  of  his  humble  enterprise  and  ask 
him  if  this,  all  this,  be  not  an  atonement  for  his 
suffering,  a  recompense  for  his  toils,  a  blessing  on 
his  efforts,  and  a  heart-expanding  triumph  for  the 
Pilgrim  adventurer.  And  if  he  be  proud  of  his 
offspring,  well  may  they  boast  of  their  parentage. 


96  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"The  descendants  of  New  England,  wherever 
situated,  must  regard  with  sympathy  the  land  of 
their  ancestors  and  look  back  with  pride  upon 
their  common  origin.  The  statesman  can  find  no 
brighter  example  of  union,  strength,  and  harmony 
than  that  under  which  these  early  associates 
grew  into  celebrity  and  power.  They  knew  no 
sectional  divisions,  they  were  one — the  strong 
supporting  the  weak,  the  weak  confiding  in  the 
strong.  They  were  wise,  but  alas,  wisdom  belongs 
to  poverty  and  danger,  and  not  to  pride  or 
prosperity." 

WILLIAM  JOHN  GRAYSON,  JR. 

William  John  Grayson,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Beau- 
fort, South  Carolina,  November  lo,  1788.  He 
was  graduated  from  the  South  Carolina  College  in 
1809,  studied  law,  and  entered  upon  its  practice 
in  his  native  town.  He  was  a  many-sided  man — 
he  possessed  the  rare  capacity  of  doing  many  dif- 
ferent things  and  doing  them  well. 

He  was  successively  a  commissioner  in  equity 
of  South  Carolina,  a  member  of  the  legislature, 
and  state  senator. 

Mr.  Grayson  opposed  the  Tariff  Act  in  1831. 
He  served  two  terms  in  Congress  and  afterward 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  97 

became  collector  of  customs  of  the  port  of  Charles- 
ton. He  joined  the  New  England  Society  in  1841 
and  was  prominent  in  its  dehberations. 

During  the  secession  agitations  of  1850,  Mr. 
Grayson  pubHshed  "A  Letter  to  Governor  Sea- 
brook,"  deprecating  disunion,  and  with  cogent 
argument  he  pointed  out  the  evils  that  would 
certainly  follow  it.  In  addition  to  his  poUtical 
prominence,  Mr.  Grayson  was  a  literateur  of 
attainments.  Among  his  pubUcations  were  The 
Hireling  and  Slave,  The  Country,  Chicora  and 
Other  Poems,  and  The  Life  of  James  Lends  Petigru. 

He  was  also  a  patron  of  art.  Through  his  in- 
fluence a  number  of  art  exhibitions  were  brought  to 
Charleston  from  the  more  advanced  art  centers  of 
the  United  States. 

His  portrait  hangs  in  the  Charleston  Library 
as  one  of  the  representative  men  of  letters  of 
South  Carolina. 

He  died  in  Newberry,  South  Carolina,  Octo- 
ber 4,  1865. 

SAMUEL  GILMAN 

The  Reverend  Samuel  Gilman  was  a  national 
character.  When  he  died  in  1858  there  was 
scarcely  a  newspaper  or  periodical  of  prominence 


^ 


98  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

in  the  United  States  which  did  not  publish  a 
sketch  of  his  well-spent  life.  The  appreciation 
which  follows  is  taken  essentially  from  the  New 
York  Tribune: 

"The  decease  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Oilman,  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  is  announced  as 
having  taken  place  on  Monday,  February  8, 
at  Kingston,  Plymouth  County,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  was  on  a  visit  for  his  health  at  the  resi- 
dence of  his  son-in-law,  the  Reverend  C.  J. 
Bowen.  Dr.  Oilman  was  widely  known  in  New 
England,  of  which  he  was  a  native,  and  in  his 
adopted  state  of  South  Carolina  as  a  scholar  of 
singularly  varied  attainments,  an  able  and  impres- 
sive preacher,  a  writer  of  a  rare  and  delicate 
humor,  as  well  as  of  masculine  sense  and  classical 
taste,  and  a  man  whom  it  was  difhcult  not  to 
admire  for  his  uncommon  social  qualities,  his 
large  catholicity  of  view,  and  his  gracious  and 
conciliatory  bearing.  He  was  born  February  i6, 
1 791,  in  the  old  town  of  Oloucester,  Massachu- 
setts, where  his  father  had  been  a  wealthy  mer- 
chant, but  by  a  sudden  reverse  of  fortune  left  his 
family  dependent  on  their  own  resources. 

"At  an  early  age  he  became  a  member  of  the 
household  of  the  Reverend  Samuel  Peabody,  of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA    99 

Atkinson,  New  Hampshire,  whose  quaint  primi- 
tive ways  are  described  with  inimitable  humor  in 
a  biographical  sketch  by  Mr.  Gilman,  published 
in  the  Christian  Examiner.  He  entered  Harvard 
College  in  1807,  and  after  the  usual  course  of 
study  was  graduated  in  a  class  which  numbers 
among  its  members  many  names  of  the  most 
honorable  distinction  in  Church  and  State.  With 
such  competitors  as  Edward  Everett,  Reverend 
Dr.  Frothingham,  Judge  B.  F.  Dunkin,  and  others 
who  have  since  become  widely  celebrated,  he 
obtained  honors  of  a  high  order,  and  after  com- 
pleting his  professional  studies  was  appointed  to 
an  office  in  the  university  which  he  filled  with 
success  until  1819,  when  he  accepted  an  invitation 
to  become  the  pastor  of  the  Unitarian  Church,  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  He  was  soon  after 
ordained,  and  for  nearly  forty  years  labored  in  the 
position  in  which  he  was  placed  in  early  manhood. 
"During  his  residence  in  Cambridge  he  was 
a  frequent  contributor  to  the  North  American 
Review,  in  which  periodical  his  papers  are  marked 
by  their  polished  elegance  of  diction,  the  grace  and 
felicity  of  their  illustrations,  and  their  racy 
humor.  After  his  removal  to  Charleston  he 
continued  to  write  for  different  periodicals,  his 


lOO  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

contributions  embracing  a  wide  range  of  subjects, 
from  profound  philosophical  discussions  to  spar- 
kling satirical  essays.  A  selection  of  these  was 
published  in  a  volume  a  few  years  since,  and  now 
forms  an  appropriate  memorial  of  his  fame. 
Among  his  productions  the  "Recollections  of  a 
New  England  Village  Choir"  has  perhaps  become 
the  most  generally  popular.  For  apt  logical 
description,  a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  and  a 
happy  intuition  of  characteristic  peculiarities,  it 
has  seldom  been  matched  in  the  humorous  litera- 
ture of  this  country. 

"Dr.  Oilman  also  possessed  the  gift  of  poetry, 
which  he  cultivated  with  no  inconsiderable  suc- 
cess. He  had  luxuriant  fancy,  an  excellent  com- 
mand of  natural  imagery,  and  great  fluency  of 
expression,  though  no  one  could  claim  for  him 
the  higher  powers  of  imagination  or  depth  of 
passion. 

"As  a  pulpit  orator  he  was  affectionate  and 
persuasive,  equally  removed  from  languor  and 
vehemence,  never  boisterous,  but  always  in 
earnest,  loving  the  sphere  of  universal  ethics 
rather  than  the  subtleties  of  sectarian  doctrine, 
and  commending  the  great  lessons  he  taught  by 
the  shining  and  noble  example  of  his  private  life. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         loi 

His  influence  was  not  confined  within  the  precincts 
of  his  own  church  but  spread  a  kindly  and  attrac- 
tive atmosphere  in  the  midst  of  strenuous  theo- 
logical differences.  Although  his  natural  tastes 
would  perhaps  have  inclined  him  more  strongly 
to  an  academic  or  a  purely  literary  life  than  to 
the  clerical  profession,  he  never  shrank  from  the 
most  faithful  allegiance  to  the  duties  of  his  calling. 
Succeeding  a  man  of  rare  endowments  and  admir- 
able personal  traits,  he  soon  won  not  only  the 
devoted  affection  of  his  charge,  but  the  esteem  of 
the  whole  community  to  which  he  came  as  a 
stranger  but  where  he  was  at  once  recognized  as  a 
friend.  His  occasional  visits  to  the  home  of  his 
youth  kept  his  ancient  intimacies  unbroken;  old 
associations  were  preserved  amid  the  excitement 
of  novel  scenes  and  fresh  interests;  and  now  that 
he  has  passed  away,  his  remembrance  will  be 
tenderly  cherished  both  by  those  to  whom  he 
devoted  the  maturity  of  his  strength,  and  those 
among  whom  he  has  found  a  grave." 

Mr.  A.  S.  Willington,  editor  of  the  Courier, 
and  president  of  the  New  England  Society,  paid 
the  following  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Gilman: 

"The  sudden  removal  from  us  of  the  Rev- 
erend Samuel  Gilman,  D.D.,  has  called  forth  the 


I02  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

startled  sorrow  and  profoundest  grief  of  the  com- 
munity in  which,  for  almost  half  a  century,  he 
had  lived  the  life  and  illustrated  the  example  of  a 
Christian  pastor,  and  in  all  respects  and  relations 
so  meek  and  gentle  and  lovable,  so  disinterestedly 
alive  to  the  calls  of  courtesy  and  charity,  so 
actively  and  efficiently  identified  with  the  literary 
culture  and  social  amenities  of  our  city  that  his 
decease  will  cast  a  shadow  far  beyond  the  pale  of 
the  congregation  which  has  grown  up  under  his 
teachings.  We  of  Charleston  all  knew  and  loved 
him,  and  we  had  grown  to  think  him  so  utterly 
and  entirely  our  own  that  we  had  hoped  uncon- 
sciously that  even  the  inevitable  message  would 
have  found  and  reached  him  in  our  midst  and 
amid  the  scenes  and  calls  of  duty  wherein  his  life 
has  passed  in  honor  and  instructive  example. 
We  are  startled  that  he  so  loved  and  honored 
should  be  thus  taken,  and  we  are  more  startled 
that  the  call  should  have  found  him  far  from  us 
and  from  the  home  of  his  active  and  well-stored 
life. 

"It  will  be  the  melancholy  office  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Charleston,  in  varied  relations  and  asso- 
ciations, to  do  honor  to  such  exemplary  worth  and 
merits,  and  to  abler — not  more  loving — hands, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA  103 

and  to  moments  and  occasions  of  more  matured 
reflection,  we  commit  and  defer  the  offices  of  a 
more  adequate  tribute. 

"We  cannot,  however,  omit  the  sad  occasion 
of  stating  and  acknowledging  the  pleasures  and 
benefits  and  delightful  fruits  of  a  long  and  intimate 
intercourse  and  acquaintance  with  our  departed 
friend,  who  so  happily  illustrated  all  that  the 
ancient  moralists  have  taught  us  of  friendship  in 
its  purest  forms,  and  added  withal  the  crowning 
graces  and  charms  of  the  Christian  life,  example, 
and  character. 

"It  has  fallen  within  the  editorial  province  of 
the  Courier,  at  frequent  intervals  wdthin  the 
forty  years  which  enclosed  Dr.  Oilman's  residence 
and  service  among  us,  to  give  mention  and  proof 
of  his  active  sympathy  and  zealous  co-operation 
in  all  great  and  worthy  purposes  and  projects  of 
social,  municipal,  literary,  moral,  or  religious 
advancement.  It  is  scarcely  six  years  since  an 
interesting  epoch  in  his  pastoral  relation — the 
renovation  of  the  house  of  worship  occupied  by 
his  beloved  and  loving  parishioners — gave  us  an 
occasion  to  notice  at  some  length  his  influence 
and  services  in  our  community.  This  character- 
isticaUy  appropriate  discourse,  full  of  patriarchal 


104  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

reminiscences  and  paternal  instruction  uttered,  as 
was  Dr.  Oilman's  wont,  without  affectation  or 
assumption,  was  pronounced  on  the  first  Sabbath  in 
April,  1852,  as  *a  farewell  to  the  old  church,'  and 
was  wrought  out  from  the  text :  '  Old  things  have 
passed  away.'  With  what  emphasis  and  accent 
of  sorrow  will  that  text  now  be  sounded  forth  in 
the  ears  and  memories  of  bereaved  and  weeping 
friends,  as  they  enter  again  and  again  their  beau- 
tiful temple,  now  beautiful  to  them  no  more  in 
the  absence  of  him  whose  ministry  and  teachings 
were  its  most  cherished  adjuncts.  From  this 
discourse  we  gather  a  few  facts,  which  will  furnish 
melancholy  interest  at  this  occasion. 

"Dr.  Oilman  received  his  pastoral  call  early 
in  1 8 19,  as  successor  to  the  Reverend  Anthony  M. 
Forster.  After  a  few  months  of  probationary 
service,  he  was  confirmed  and  duly  installed  in 
the  pastorate  of  the  Unitarian  or  Second  Inde- 
pendent Church  of  this  city — the  services  being 
performed  in  part  by  Reverend  Jared  Sparks, 
D.D.,  LL.D.  In  the  interim,  the  young  pastor 
had  been  united  in  the  only  tie  dearer  and  nearer 
to  him  than  the  vinculum  of  the  pastorate — to  her 
who  was  for  nearly  twoscore  years  a  helpmate  in 
life  and  example  in  labor  and  pursuits,  and  is  now 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         105 

the  chief  mourner  and  stricken  participant  in  an 
ecHpse  of  grief,  into  whose  sacred  shadow  we  dare 
not  intrude. 

"Since  that  day,  the  hfe,  labors,  actions,  and 
example  of  Samuel  Oilman  have  been  before  this 
community  and  '  known  and  read '  by  us  all.  Up 
to  the  date  of  this  discourse  referred  to,  he  had 
administered  the  last  sad  rites  of  the  church  at 
300  graves,  had  recorded  with  the  rites  of  baptism 
the  names  of  484  children  and  37  adults,  and  had 
presided  at  148  acts  of  marriage. 

"  At  a  later  date,  and  within  the  last  year,  it  was 
our  privilege  and  pleasure  to  offer  our  readers  two 
of  the  best  of  all  the  discourses  and  addresses  that 
have  been  given  to  the  pubhc  in  any  form  by  our  de- 
parted friend.  We  allude  to  the  sermon  preached 
on  the  2 2d  February,  1857,  at  the  call  of  the  Wash- 
ington Light  Infantry,  and  in  commemoration  of 
the  character  of  Washington.  Our  demonstrative 
and  occasional  oratory  has  rarely  given  a  contri- 
bution of  more  sterling  value  to  permanent  litera- 
ture. Christian  oratory  has  never  more  fitly  and 
impressively  embodied  and  applied  the  lessons  of 
any  anniversary. 

"We  must  omit,  however,  the  extension  of  this 
public  tribute,  for  which  we  are  unfitted  by  the 


/ 


io6  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

startling  shock  of  its  occasion,  and  by  the  general 
gush  of  sorrow  around  us  that  seeks  and  needs 
repose  and  some  recovery  before  it  can  take 
articulate  utterance. 

"It  is  more  fitting  that  we  apply  and  digest  in 
silent  grief  and  chastened  meditation  the  lessons 
of  such  a  life  and  the  mournful  memories  of  so 
great  a  sorrow.  'Being  dead,  he  yet  speaketh,' 
and  long  shall  that  speech  be  heard  in  persuasive 
accents  and  utterances,  pleading  for  truth  and 
charity  and  purity  and  virtue,  and  reminding  us 
all  that  the  places  which  now  know  us  shall  soon 
know  us  no  more  forever." 

Dr.  Oilman  became  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Society  in  1821.  He  was  for  more  than 
a  generation  one  of  its  most  prominent  members, 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  committee  on  charity 
and  as  chaplain.  His  addresses  on  Forefathers' 
Day  were  among  the  most  classic  and  profound 
utterances  ever  delivered  before  the  Society. 
One  of  the  most  notable  was  delivered  just  before 
his  death  and  is  incorporated  in  the  chapter  on 
the  Civil  War. 

In  order  to  convey  an  idea  of  Dr.  Oilman's 
devotional  spirit  and  his  poetical  genius,  a  prayer 
offered  at  one  of  the  annual  celebrations  of  the 


A     i3    WH-LINLj  I  UN 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         107 

New   England   Society   and   two    representative 
poems  are  quoted : 

O  thou  who  art  the  giver  of  every  good  and  perfect 
gift!  We  bless  thee  for  the  recurrence  and  the  recollec- 
tions of  this  memorable  day.  We  would  celebra^te  it  in 
the  right  spirit  and  with  grateful  hearts.  We  thank  thee 
for  the  precious  bequest  we  enjoy  in  the  memory  of  our 
wise,  pious,  and  renowned  forefathers.  May  something 
of  their  pure,  sublime,  and  self-sacrificing  character  be 
ours.  Wilt  thou  be  pleased  to  bless  the  associations  here 
assembled!  We  thank  thee  for  the  good  it  has  done,  for 
the  many  friendships  it  has  formed  and  cemented,  and 
for  the  happy  prospects  that  lie  before  us.  Wilt  thou 
bless  the  community  in  which  we  reside,  and  which 
received  us,  many  of  us,  as  strangers  in  a  strange  land, 
with  a  kind  confidence  and  hospitality.  May  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  this  city  be  ever  precious  in  thy  sight. 
Wilt  thou  smile  on  the  state  we  inhabit,  and  on  our  whole 
beloved  country,  and  bless  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
Restore,  we  earnestly  beseech  thee,  the  interrupted  peace 
of  nations,  and  let  the  noise  of  cannons  and  of  garments 
rolled  in  blood  no  longer  pierce  the  hearts  of  thy  children. 
We  ask  these  things  in  the  Redeemer's  name. 

Early  in  1819  Mr.  Gilman  came  South  to 
preach  as  a  candidate  in  the  Second  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Charleston.  He  spent  a 
considerable  period  in  this  city,  experienced  a 
severe  attack  of  yellow  fever,  and  was  invited  to 
become  minister  of  this  church.     On  the  eve  of 


lo8  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

his  return  to  New  England  he  wrote  the  following 
poem,  which  is  of  interest  as  an  example  of  his 
poetry  and  as  an  index  to  his  feeHngs  both  for 
Charleston  and  for  his  native  New  England: 

Farewell,  awliile,  thou  hospitable  spot! 
Farewell,  my  own  adopted  dwelling-place! 
Scene  of  my  future  consecrated  lot 
And  destined  circuit  of  my  earthly  race. 

Farewell,  my  friends,  who  hung  so  long  and  true. 
With  sleepless  care  around  my  fevered  bed. 
And  ye  from  whom  a  stranger's  title  drew 
Profuse  attentions,  delicately  shed. 

Yet  why  a  stranger  ?     Since  no  other  home 
Remains  for  me;  e'en  now,  depressed,  I  fly 
For  the  last  time  through  youthful  haunts  to  roam, 
And  snatch  the  breezes  from  my  native  sky. 

Yes,  dear  New  England!    Help  me  from  my  breast 
To  wean  these  childish  yearnings,  ere  we  part; 
Help  me  these  cords  to  snap,  these  ties  to  wrest. 
So  wound  and  stamped  and  woven  in  my  heart. 

A  few  more  bounds  along  thy  rocky  shore, 
A  few  more  pensive  walks  among  thy  streams, 
A  few  more  greetings  from  dear  friends  of  yore, 
A  few  more  dreams — and  then,  no  more  of  dreams. 

Come  sacred,  solid  duty  I    At  thy  call 

My  cheerful  will  submissively  shall  flow; 

So,  thou  great  source  of  strength  and  light  to  all, 

Lead  me  the  awful  way  my  feet  must  go. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         109 

Teach  me  to  bear  the  Christian  herald's  part, 
To  set  the  slaves  of  sin  and  error  free, 
To  guide  each  doubting,  soothe  each  aching,  heart, 
And  draw  a  listening,  willing  flock  to  thee. 

FAIR   HARVARD 

Composed  by  Dr.  Samuel  Gilman,  and  sung 
at  the  centennial  celebration  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, September  8,  1836. 

The  following  year  Harvard  conferred  upon 
Mr.  Gilman  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity. 

Fair  Harvard!  thy  sons  to  thy  jubilee  throng, 

And  with  blessings  surrender  thee  o'er, 

By  these  festival-rites,  from  the  age  that  is  past, 

To  the  age  that  is  waiting  before. 

O  relic  and  type  of  our  ancestors'  worth, 

That  hast  long  kept  their  memory  warm ! 

First  flower  of  their  wilderness!    Star  of  their  night. 

Calm  rising  through  change  and  through  storm! 

To  thy  bowers  we  were  led  in  the  bloom  of  our  youth. 

From  the  home  of  our  free-roving  years. 

When  our  fathers  had  warned,  and  our  mothers  had  prayed. 

And  our  sisters  had  blest,  through  their  tears. 

Thou  then  wert  our  parent — the  nurse  of  our  souls — 

We  were  molded  to  manhood  by  thee. 

Till,  freighted  with  treasure-thoughts,  friendships,  and 

hopes, 
Thou  didst  launch  us  on  Destiny's  sea. 


no  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

When,  as  pilgrims,  we  come  to  revisit  thy  halls. 

To  what  kindlings  the  season  gives  birth ! 

Thy  shades  are  more  soothing,  thy  sunlight  more  dear. 

Than  descends  on  less  privileged  earth; 

For  the  good  and  the  great,  in  their  beautiful  prime. 

Through  thy  precincts  have  musingly  trod. 

As  they  girded  their  spirits,  or  deepened  the  streams 

That  make  glad  the  fair  City  of  God. 

Farewell!  be  thy  destinies  onward  and  bright! 

To  thy  children  the  lesson  still  give. 

With  freedom  to  think,  and  with  patience  to  bear. 

And  for  Right  ever  bravely  to  live. 

Let  not  moss-covered  Error  moor  thee  at  its  side, 

As  the  world  on  Truth's  current  glides  by; 

Be  the  herald  of  Light,  and  the  bearer  of  Love, 

Till  the  stock  of  the  Puritans  die. 

SAMUEL  FINLEY  BREESE  MORSE 

Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse  was  born  at 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  April  27,  1791.  He 
died  in  New  York,  April  2,  1872.  He  was  gradu- 
ated from  Yale  in  18 10  and  went  immediately  to 
England,  where  he  studied  art  with  Benjamin 
West.  When  he  returned  to  this  country,  he 
sought  to  establish  himself  in  a  number  of  Ameri- 
can cities.  He  came  to  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  181 8  and  remained  in  the  "City  by  the 
Sea"  for  a  number  of  years. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         iii 

In  the  winter  of  1819  he  wrote  to  his  old  pre- 
ceptor, Washington  Allston:  "  I  am  painting  from 
morning  till  night,  and  have  continual  applica- 
tions." In  one  year  during  his  stay  in  Charleston 
Mr.  Morse  received  more  than  one  hundred 
orders  for  pictures.  Among  the  orders  he  received 
was  one  from  the  city  of  Charleston  to  paint  a  life- 
size  portrait  of  James  Monroe,  then  president  of 
the  United  States.  The  following  notice  of  this 
order  is  taken  from  the  Courier,  April  29,  1819: 

The  City  Council  passed  a  unanimous  vote  at  a 
meeting  last  month  that  His  Honor  the  Intendant  be 
requested  to  solicit  James  Monroe,  president  of  the 
United  States,  to  permit  a  full-length  likeness  to  be 
taken  for  the  city  of  Charleston,  and  that  Mr.  S.  F.  B. 
Morse  be  requested  to  take  all  necessary  measures  for 
executing  the  said  likeness  on  the  visit  of  the  President 
to  this  city. 

The  request  has  been  made  by  the  Intendant  to  the 
President,  who  was  pleased  to  grant  his  permission,  but, 
on  account  of  his  limited  stay  and  multiplicity  of  engage- 
ments, he  would  not  be  able  to  sit  for  his  portrait  while 
in  Charleston.  We  understand  that  Mr.  Morse  has 
made  arrangements  with  the  President  to  take  the  por- 
trait in  Washington,  after  his  return  from  his  tour. 

This  portrait  was  painted  in  Washington,  and 
on  its  completion  was  placed  in  the  City  Hall  and 
is  still  in  perfect  condition. 


112  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Mr.  Morse  joined  the  New  England  Society  in 
1820,  the  year  after  its  organization,  and  was  a 
regular  attendant  at  its  meetings  and  dinners. 

In  1823  Mr.  Morse  went  to  New  York  City 
and,  after  hiring  as  his  studio,  "a  fine  room  on 
Broadway,  opposite  Trinity  Church  Yard,"  he 
continued  his  painting  of  portraits,  one  of  the  first 
being  that  of  Chancellor  Kent,  which  was  followed 
soon  afterward  by  a  picture  of  Fitz- Greene 
Halleck,  now  in  the  Astor  library,  a  full-length 
portrait  of  Lafayette  for  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  a  portrait  of  Major  General  Thomas  Pinckney, 
of  South  Carolina. 

During  his  residence  there  he  became  associated 
with  other  artists  in  founding  the  New  York  Draw- 
ing Association,  of  which  he  was  made  president. 
This  led  in  1826  to  the  estabhshment  of  the 
National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  to 
include  representations  from  the  arts  of  painting, 
sculpture,  architecture,  and  engraving.  Morse 
was  chosen  its  president  and  so  remained  until 
1842.  He  was  likewise  president  of  the  Sketch 
Club,  an  assemblage  of  artists  that  met  weekly  to 
sketch  for  an  hour,  after  which  the  time  was 
devoted  to  entertainment.  About  this  time  he 
delivered  a  series  of  lectures  on  "The  Fine  Arts" 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         113 

before  the  New  York  Athenaeum,  which  are  said 
to  be  the  first  on  that  subject  in  the  United 
States.  Thus  he  continued  until  1829,  when  he 
again  visited  Europe  for  study  and  for  three  years 
resided  abroad,  principally  in  Paris  and  the  art 
centers  of  Italy. 

In  1832  he  discovered  the  electric  telegraph, 
which  made  him  so  famous  that  his  work  as  an 
artist  has  been  disregarded  by  the  average  reader 
of  history. 

BENJAMIN  FANEUIL  HUNT 

Benjamin  Faneuil  Hunt  was  born  at  Water- 
town,  Massachusetts,  February  29,  1792.  His 
father  was  the  descendant  of  a  clergyman  who 
was  among  the  early  immigrants  to  that  state. 
His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  George  Bethune,  of 
Brighton,  and  Mary  Faneuil,  of  the  Huguenot 
family,  one  of  whom  gave  Faneuil  Hall  to  Boston. 
Colonel  Hunt's  father  died  in  1804,  but  his 
widowed  mother,  perceiving  his  talent,  had  him 
prepared  for  college.  In  1806  he  entered  Har- 
vard University,  where  he  was  graduated  in  his 
twentieth  year. 

Mr.  Hunt  came  to  Charleston  in  1810  and 
began  the  study  of  law.     He  entered  as  a  student 


114  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

the  law  office  of  the  late  Keating  Lewis  Simons,  at 
that  time  one  of  the  most  distinguished  orna- 
ments of  the  legal  profession  in  this  city.  After 
two  years'  study  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Charleston  at  a  period  when  it  was  crowded  with 
eminent  practitioners.  Gifted  with  high  intel- 
lectual powers  and  a  ready  and  powerful  rhetoric 
he  at  once  took  his  place  in  the  front  rank  of  the 
profession.  His  practice  was  large  and  success- 
ful, and  his  professional  triumphs  generally,  and 
especially  in  the  defense  of  criminals  in  capital 
cases,  were  multiplied  and  signal.  His  ability 
and  eloquence  as  an  advocate  soon  gave  him 
prominence  in  the  field  of  politics,  and  he  fre- 
quently served  in  the  legislature  of  this  state  as 
a  representative  from  Charleston  and  was  always 
regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  influential 
debaters  on  the  floor  of  the  House. 

The  following  statement  concerning  Mr.  Hunt 
is  quoted  from  Sketches  of  Eminent  Americans: 

"On  the  declaration  of  War  in  1812,  Mr.  Hunt 
aided  in  organizing  a  company  which  was  drafted 
during  the  war  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  throughout  its  continuance  faithfully 
fulfiUed  the  responsible  duties  of  his  command. 
He  successively  rose   through  the  intermediate 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         115 

grades,  and  about  the  year  1818  was  promoted  to 
the  colonelcy  of  the  Sixteenth  Regiment  and 
served  in  that  capacity  nearly  twenty  years. 
Since  then  Mr.  Hunt  has  been  popularly  and 
familiarly  known  as  "Colonel  Hunt."  In  his 
military  position  he  has  always  manifested  the 
characteristic  traits  of  energy,  fearlessness,  and 
ability,  both  as  a  soldier  and  tactician,  that  had 
so  signally  distinguished  him  as  a  lawyer  and  a 
legislator." 

Colonel  Hunt  became  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Society  April  7,  1819,  and  for  a  genera- 
tion w^as  in  constant  demand  as  an  orator  on 
Forefathers'  Day.  At  the  annual  celebration, 
December  22,  1824,  five  years  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Society,  Colonel  Hunt  delivered  the 
principal  address,  which  made  a  profound  impres- 
sion at  the  time  and  which  is  eminently  worthy 
of  quotation  in  this  sketch.    He  spoke  as  follows : 

"Upon  the  anniversary  of  events  that  have 
happily  affected  the  destinies  of  mankind,  it  is 
delightful  to  trace  the  progress  of  the  past  and 
indulge  in  pleasing  anticipations  of  the  future. 
This  day  recalls  to  memory  an  occurrence  that 
has  already  worked  the  most  entire  and  the 
most  important  change  in  the  civilized  world,  and 


Ii6  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

hope  itself  cannot  compass  the  prospects  which 
are  constantly  expanding. 

"Two  hundred  and  four  years  ago,  a  few  Pil- 
grims landed  on  these  shores  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  our  country.  Few  in  number,  poor  and 
defenseless,  they  encountered  a  bleak  and  untamed 
wilderness.  Ordinary  men  would  have  shrunk 
from  the  enterprise,  but  they  were  the  chosen 
heralds  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Mark  the 
contrast  w^hich  so  brief  a  period  presents.  The 
forest  is  subdued — the  wigwam  of  the  savage  is 
supplanted  by  the  homes  of  the  learned,  the 
pious,  and  the  free.  Science  now  rears  her 
temples  and  Religion  wears  her  brightest  robes 
and  scatters  her  choicest  blessings  through  this 
modern  Canaan. 

"It  is  worthy  of  the  statesman,  of  the  philos- 
opher, and  the  philanthropist  to  ascertain  and 
illustrate  the  cause  of  a  revolution  so  vast,  so 
sudden,  so  admirable.  In  the  meantime  the 
other  portions  of  the  earth  have  experienced  only 
the  gradual  and  almost  imperceptible  changes 
produced  by  the  lingering  process  of  time.  The 
nations  of  Europe  have  maintained,  with  little 
variety,  the  same  relative  position,  while  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic  has  sprung  into  existence, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         117 

from  a  little  band  of  pious  exiles,  a  mighty 
Republic,  defying  the  power  of  the  strongest  and 
emulating  in  all  the  refinements  of  life  the  most 
polished;  enjoying  its  luxuries  without  their 
corruptions;  religion  without  superstition;  and 
liberty  without  licentiousness. 

"This  cannot  be  the  effect  of  accident,  neither 
of  soil  or  climate,  and  least  of  all  of  patronage — 
for  some  of  the  most  delightful  and  fertile  regions 
have  scarce  advanced  a  step,  some  remained 
stationary,  others  have  retrograded;  and  the  his- 
tory of  our  infant  settlements  is  a  narrative  of 
suffering  fortitude  struggling  wdth  the  inclemen- 
cies of  the  seasons  and  the  hostility  of  savages — 
of  whole  families  perishing  in  the  storms  of  winter, 
or  butchered  by  the  tomahawk  that  spared 
neither  age  nor  sex — yet  now  peace  crowns  every 
hill  and  plenty  smiles  in  every  valley. 

"After  a  passing  tribute  to  the  stout  hearts 
that  quailed  not  at  all  the  complicated  hardships 
of  the  pioneers  of  civilization,  let  us  look  for  the 
great  moral  cause  of  all  our  present  happiness 
and  all  our  future  prospects  in  the  purity  of  the 
moral  and  political  principles  of  our  forefathers. 

"Arrived  on  a  part  of  the  coast  beyond  the 
limits  of   their  charter,   they  found   themselves 


ii8  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

about  to  disembark  upon  an  unknown  wilder- 
ness, without  government,  without  laws,  without 
magistrates.  They  realized  the  state  which  phi- 
losophers had  only  imagined,  and,  recurring  to 
the  eternal  principles  of  all  legitimate  rules,  they 
framed  and  signed  a  written  form  of  government 
by  which  each  bound  himself  to  the  whole  to 
obey  the  majority,  and  proceeded  to  elect  the 
first  magistrate  whoever  presided  over  a  pure 
democracy  under  a  written  charter.  The  nearest 
approaches  of  the  most  celebrated  republics  will 
not  bear  comparison.  Here  were  no  ancient 
customs,  no  prejudices,  no  favored  family  whom 
the  people  had  been  used  to  venerate  and  obey, 
no  inveterate  predilections,  rendered  sacred  by 
time,  to  destroy  the  harmony  of  the  structure 
— all  were  equal,  all  had  alike  forsaken  the  land 
of  their  nativity  and  committed  themselves  to 
the  trackless  deep  to  escape  the  oppressions  of  the 
Old  World,  and,  thus  remitted  to  their  primitive 
personal  independence,  they  formed  the  first 
American  constitution. 

"The  history  of  the  world  affords  no  other 
example  of  men  yielding  voluntarily  to  the 
restraints  of  government  and  basing  it  upon  the 
true  foundation,  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         119 

"Although  compelled  for  a  time  to  submit  to 
the  oppressive  protection  of  a  country  that 
arrogated  the  name  of  mother,  although  she  had 
exiled  her  offspring  by  her  cruelty,  they  never 
lost  sight  of  the  first  elements  of  their  civil  com- 
pact, and  when  time  had  matured  their  strength, 
and  exactions  repugnant  to  their  notions  of  right 
afforded  ample  justification,  these  primitive  repub- 
licans proclaimed  an  eternal  separation  from 
Britain  and  declared  to  the  world  that  these  states 
were,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free,  sovereign, 
and  independent.  This  was  the  consummation  of 
all  the  toils,  all  the  suffering,  all  the  moral  forti- 
tude of  the  first  settlers,  and  to  maintain  it  the 
Patriots  of  '76  pledged  to  each  other  'their  lives, 
their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honors,'  and 
nobly  did  they  redeem  the  pledge;  for  now  our 
country  stands  an  equal  among  the  mightiest 
empires  of  the  earth.  Her  example  has  shaken 
to  their  centers  the  thrones  of  Europe  and  even 
now  is  about  to  constitute  all  America  a  continent 
of  free  men. 

"The  increase  of  population  has  been  rapid 
beyond  all  precedent.  Having  secured  at  Plym- 
outh an  asylum  from  the  oppressions  of  rulers 
and  the  persecutions  of  priestcraft,  new  settlers 


I20  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

soon  swelled  their  numbers.  The  adventurous 
and  the  persecuted  looked  to  these  shores,  and 
new  colonies  studded  the  coast  from  Maine  to 
Georgia;  and  their  children  now  mingle  in  har- 
mony, constituting  one  great  people.  Here  the 
Huguenots  of  France  found  protection  for  them- 
selves and  a  rich  heritage  for  their  posterity. 
Here,  too,  many  an  exile  of  Erin  prays  for  the 
hour  when  he  may  write  the  epitaph  of  Emmett, 
'when  his  country  is  free.' 

"Such  has  been  the  growth  of  our  country — 
from  a  few  Pilgrims,  wandering  upon  the  bosom 
of  the  deep  and  cast  upon  an  unknown  shore,  to 
more  than  ten  millions  of  people,  who  obey  no 
rulers  but  of  their  own  choice  and  are  governed 
by  no  laws  but  of  their  own  making;  whose 
religion  wins  by  its  own  purity  and,  strong  in  the 
sincerity  of  its  votaries,  shackles  nothing  but 
guilt.  But  where  is  the  prophetic  eye  that  can 
gaze  undazzled  upon  the  bright  visions  of  the 
future,  when  our  eagle  shall  stretch  his  wings  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific;  who  can  anticipate 
the  exhaustless  energies  of  civil,  political,  and 
religious  truth?  We  have  traced  the  infant 
efforts  of  liberty;  who  can  foretell  the  glories  of 
her  final  triumph  ? 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         121 

"Yes,  my  friends,  the  unexampled  and  splen- 
did career  of  our  country  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
pure  doctrines  and  unsullied  republicanism  of  our 
venerable  forefathers.  Her  march  has  been  the 
victory  of  civil  and  religious  emancipation  of  the 
rights  of  man.  This  ceremony  belongs  not  to  us 
alone— the  anniversary  we  celebrate  was  the 
dayspring  of  an  enfranchised  world. 

"Assembled  as  we  are  to  celebrate  an  era  so 
fertile  of  human  happiness,  although  our  pursuits 
in  life  have  led  us  to  a  quarter  of  our  common 
country  far  from  the  places  of  our  birth  and  the 
scenes  of  our  infancy,  we  will  yet  remember  with 
filial  fondness  the  green  hills  and  pure  streams  of 
New  England  and  pay  the  tribute  of  our  affec- 
tions to  a  land  rendered  illustrious  by  the  piety 
and  valor  of  our  ancestors  and  which  now  entombs 
their  ashes. 

"It  was  our  destiny  to  have  drawn  our  first 
breath  amid  scenes  which  are  hallowed  by  many 
an  eventful  recollection.  The  rocks  of  Plymouth, 
the  plains  of  Lexington,  and  the  heights  of  Bunker 
recall  to  every  patriot  deeds  that  have  enriched 
us  with  the  choicest  of  human  blessings  and 
secured  to  millions  yet  unborn  their  perennial 
enjoyment. 


122  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 
This  is  my  own,  my  native  land! 

"Suffer  me,  Mr.  President,  to  offer  as  a  toast: 
"'The  Land  of  the  Pilgrims.     Should  it  ever 

be  polluted  by  the  footsteps  of  a  tyrant,  may 

every  height  prove  a  Bunker,  and  every  arm  a 

Warren's.' " 

Colonel  Hunt  died  in  New  York,  December  6, 

1854. 

BENJAMIN  FANEUIL  DUNKIN 

Benjamin  Faneuil  Dunkin  was  born  in  Phila-  • 
delphia,  Pennsylvania,  December  2,   1792.     His 
parents  were  sojourning  in  Philadelphia  at  the 
time,  their  permanent  residence  being  in  Massa- 
chusetts. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  young  Dunkin  was 
graduated  with  distinction  from  Harvard.  He 
came  to  Charleston  the  follomng  year  and  began 
the  study  of  law  under  the  direction  of  WiUiam 
Drayton. 

He  served  as  an  officer  in  the  War  of  181 2. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  South  CaroHna 
in    1 814.     He   subsequently  held   the   following 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         123 

eminent  stations  in  his  adopted  state:  a  member 
of  the  legislature,  and  for  two  terms  Speaker  of 
the  House. 

In  1837  he  was  chosen  chancellor  in  the  Equity 
Court  of  Appeals,  and  in  1865  chief  justice.  He 
was  chief  justice  three  years,  from  December, 
1865,  to  December,  1868.  Harvard  conferred  on 
him  the  degree  of  LL.D.,  but  such  was  his  instinc- 
tive shrinking  from  self-glorification  and  the 
pomp  of  distinction  that  but  few  of  his  near 
friends  were  made  aware  of  this  honor. 

The  following  estimate  of  Judge  Dunkin  is 
from  a  memorial  adopted  by  the  Charleston  bar 
at  a  meeting  held  December  18,  1874. 

"  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  contemplate  his  per- 
sonal and  private  character  and  domestic  virtues. 
These  are  too  well  garnered  and  treasured  in  the 
hearts  and  affections  of  those  who  are  near  and 
dear  to  him  by  the  sacred  ties  of  blood  and  the 
social  relations  of  friendship  and  connection. 

"  It  is  more  in  the  stations  of  pubhc  trust  and 
confidence  that  we  would  contemplate  him — nor 
is  it  so  much  as  a  lawyer  as  a  judge  that  we 
would  consider  his  quahties;  for  whilst  he  prac- 
ticed at  the  bar  twenty-two  years  before  he  was 
a  judge,  he  sat  on  the  bench  thirty-one;   and  his 


124  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

mode,  plan,  and  course  of  practice  and  con- 
ceptions of  professional  ethics  belonged  to  a  day 
so  long  past  that  few  present  can  recall  or  appre- 
ciate them,  but  all  remember  him  as  a  judge. 

"It  is  more,  too,  in  the  character  of  a  chan- 
cellor than  even  in  his  great  office  of  chief  justice 
that  his  judicial  organization  was  manifested. 
He  had  essentially  a  mind  and  organism  for 
equity.  He  entirely  appreciated  it,  and  it  became, 
not  irreverently  to  speak,  almost  a  religion  with 
him. 

"When  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  in  the  reign 
of  Richard  II,  invented  the  writ  of  subpoena  ad 
respondeum,  which  resulted  in  that  procedure 
known  to  lawyers  as  the  English  bill,  we  may 
fairly  infer  it  did  not,  and  could  not,  have  entered 
into  the  imagination  of  that  prelate  that  he  had 
brought  into  existence  a  judicial  machine  which 
would  have  so  wonderful  an  influence  upon 
human  society.  He  did  not  surely,  and  could 
not,  have  conceived  to  what  uses  it  would  have 
been  put  under  the  master-hand  of  Sir  Heneage 
Finch,  Lord  Nottingham,  who,  like  D'Agesseau  in 
France,  has  been  called  the  father  of  equity  in 
England;  nor  how,  at  a  later  day,  it  should  in  its 
consequences  have  been  molded  to  such  perfec- 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         125 

tion  as  it  attained  under  the  administration  of  the 
great  Lord  Eldon. 

"It  may  well  be  said  in  this  state  that  the 
venerable  DeSaussure,  like  Nottingham  in  Eng- 
land, was  the  father  of  equity  in  South  Carolina, 
and  that  his  immediate  successor,  the  eminent 
Dunkin,  like  Eldon,  molded  the  system  to  the 
state  of  excellence  at  which  it  had  arrived  when  it 
perished  in  the  new  order  of  things. 

"There  seems  to  be  in  many  points  a  strong 
resemblance  between  Chancellor  Dunkin  and 
Lord  Eldon,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  former  loses  nothing  by  the  comparison.  Both 
were  deliberate — Lord  Eldon  slow.  One  indulged 
in  copious  language  and  ornate  style;  the  other 
was  plain,  terse,  and  epigrammatic — what  he 
intended  to  say,  he  said,  and  no  more;  the  one  was 
diffuse  and  elaborate;  the  other  was  brief  and 
pointed.  Both  had  great  experience,  and  the 
coincidence  on  this  point  is  striking  since  Lord 
Eldon  had  the  seals  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  for 
twenty-four  years  ten  months  and  twenty-three 
days,  with  a  broken  interval  in  that  time  for 
nearly  five  years;  whilst  Chancellor  Dunkin  sat 
continuously  on  the  bench  for  thirty-one  years 
and  eighteen  days. 


126  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"One  very  remarkable  judicial  characteristic 
of  our  subject  cannot  be  omitted — it  was  his 
wonderful  precision  in  collecting  and  analyzing 
the  facts  of  the  case  submitted  to  him.  It  was 
this  that  gave  him  so  great  power  and  facility  in 
applying  the  principles  of  law  to  the  actual  state 
of  the  facts,  which  he  had  ascertained  with  the 
utmost  patience  and  care. 

"Hence  he  was  not  obliged  to  grope  about  in 
his  judgment  to  wrest  or  distort  the  semblance  of 
truth,  to  suit  some  favorite  dogma,  or  theoretic 
maxim.  Hence,  whilst  he  might  have  said  of 
himself  laboro  esse  brevis,  he  could  never  condemn 
himself,  obscurus  fio. 

"Hence,  too,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  even 
in  the  first  year  of  his  circuits  none  of  his  decrees 
were  overruled  and  very  seldom  afterward. 

"The  judicature  in  Chancery  and  Equity 
extended  through  every  phase  of  society,  to  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  lofty  and  the  obscure.  It 
pervaded  all  the  relations  of  life.  It  began  with 
the  infant  on  his  entrance  into  life;  it  followed  in 
his  boyhood  and  his  3^outh;  in  his  education  and 
training;  in  his  manhood,  marriage,  and  matri- 
monial relations;  then  again  in  the  cradle  of  his 
offspring;   at  the  hearthstone;   to  the  moment  of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         127 

death,  and,  after  death,  in  the  disposition  of  his 
worldly  estate. 

"An  unostentatious  piety,  a  pure  and  high 
morality,  intense  truthfulness,  a  large  experience, 
profound  study,  great  ability,  and  singular  judg- 
ment symbolized  in  this  great  chancellor  all  that 
was  requisite  to  perform  these  delicate,  important, 
and  extensive  functions. 

"That  eminent  judge  and  chancellor,  Job 
Johnston,  in  the  great  case  of  Vanlew  and  Parr 
used  this  eloquent  and  noble  judicial  language: 
'I  tremble  whenever  I  see  in  progress  what  is 
called  a  family  arrangement ;  and  I  have  struggled 
for  fifteen  years,  with  an  anxiety  and  with  a 
sincerity  of  effort  which  I  feel  has  not  been 
appreciated,  to  so  regulate  the  enterprise  of 
counsel  and  the  impatience  of  interested  parties 
as  to  prevent  losses  to  widows  and  orphans  inter- 
ested in  estates,  from  causes  to  which  their  eager- 
ness has  blinded  them.' 

"Chancellor  Dunkin  spent  his  judicial  life  in 
carrying  into  effect  the  principle  which  his 
learned  brother  has  so  elegantly  expressed. 

"But  the  scope  of  his  far-seeing  eye  and 
watchful  scrutiny  was  not  limited  to  causes 
which  affected  only  domestic  and  social  rights 


128  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

and  interests,  but  included  the  vast  sphere  of 
complex  contracts  and  engagements  between 
man  and  man,  the  construction  and  interpreta- 
tion of  contracts,  deeds,  wills,  and  other  instru- 
ments, and  the  restraint  of  wrong  by  the  great 
writ  of  injunction;  in  all  of  which  his  learning, 
his  patience,  his  scrupulous  exactness,  his  experi- 
ence and  enlarged  comprehension,  enabled  him 
to  approximate  as  near  as  it  is  within  human 
reason  and  judgment  to  the  attainment  of  truth; 
and  we  may  be  well  warranted  in  summing  up 
the  judicial  excellence  of  this  learned  and  experi- 
enced magistrate  to  affirm  that,  among  the  men 
who  have  dispensed  justice  from  the  Equity  bench 
in  the  United  States,  none  were  his  superiors,  and 
not  a  great  many  his  equal. 

"On  his  coming  down  from  the  seat  of  the 
chief  justice  at  the  close  of  the  year  1868,  he  pre- 
sented a  most  remarkable  spectacle. 

"Although  far  advanced  in  years  at  that 
time,  yet  he  preserved  the  full  vigor  and  strength 
of  a  healthy  body  and  unimpaired  intellect. 
Cast  upon  his  own  resources  at  his  advanced  age, 
deprived  of  the  remuneration  of  his  office  con- 
ferred upon  him  on  a  contract  for  life  under  the 
Constitution  of  1790,  crippled  in  his  estate  by  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         129 

results  of  the  war,  he  returned  to  his  profession 
and,  a  septuagenarian,  recommenced  the  practice 
of  the  laborious  calling.  Shorn  of  wealth  and 
stripped  of  his  great  office  at  the  same  time, 
forced  to  seek  a  livelihood  as  a  minister  of  the 
courts  over  all  of  which  he  had  presided  so  long 
and  with  such  honor  and  distinction,  he  did  not 
shrink  from  the  hard  destiny,  and  no  murmur  or 
complaint  ever  escaped  from  his  lips.  The 
heathen  valor  of  the  youthful  Scaevola  endured 
the  torment  of  slow  fire  in  the  presence  of  Por- 
senna;  but  it  was  more  than  Roman  physical 
fortitude  that  sustained  this  aged  modern  hero. 
The  teachings  of  a  religion  pure  and  undefiled,  a 
self-control  and  self-abnegation  based  upon  the 
highest  moral  convictions,  sustained  his  great 
spirit  amidst  these  scorching  trials.  Such  was 
his  love  for  justice,  such  his  love  of  the  great 
principles  that  he  at  the  base  of  the  social  fabric 
of  organized  society,  that,  although  the  ermine 
had  fallen  from  his  shoulders  and  he  could  no 
longer  officiate  as  chief  priest  at  the  altar  of  the 
tribunal  of  justice,  he  bent  himself  in  humility  in 
his  old  age  and  yielded  to  be  a  censer-bearer  on 
the  outside  of  the  chancel. 


I30  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"One  of  the  first  acts  of  his  new  and  renewed 
professional  obligations  was  to  argue  a  summary 
process,  and  after  the  present  Supreme  Court  was 
organized  he  was  one  of  the  first  of  his  brethren 
of  the  bar  to  present  an  argument  before  that 
body. 

"For  near  six  years  he  industriously  and  faith- 
fully labored  again  at  his  profession,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  renewed  trials  belonging  to  a  long 
past  youth  he  was  called  away  to  his  rest, '  eternal 
in  the  heavens.' 

"Chief  Justice  Dunkin  was  married  to  Miss 
Washington  S.  Prentiss  on  January  i8,  1820,  and 
when  only  two  days  remained  to  complete  a  half- 
century  of  connubial  affection  and  mutual  respect 
and  esteem,  death  with  galling  hand  added 
affliction  to  his  trials  and  snatched  her  from  his 
breast,  and  left  him  to  travel  the  weary  remnant 
of  life's  journey  without  the  companion  of  his 
youth  and  manhood,  who  had  cheered  him  with 
hope  on  the  rugged  way  and  shared  his  joys  in 
the  hour  of  success  and  prosperity. 

"It  is  becoming  in  the  bar  of  Charleston,  of 
whom  Chief  Justice  Dunkin  was  a  representative, 
to  record  their  estimation  of  his  long,  able,  and 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         131 

faithful  discharge  of  judicial  duty  in  the  exalted 
stations  in  which  he  had  been  placed  by  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  of  the  state,  and  to  hold  him 
up  as  an  example  for  the  study  and  imitation  of 
all  those  who  may  succeed  us  in  our  honorable 
and  responsible  profession.     Be  it  therefore 

^^  Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  the  late  able 
and  distinguished  Chief  Justice  Benjamin  Faneuil 
Dunkin  the  jurisprudence  of  the  country  has  lost 
an  eminent  advocate  and  supporter  and  the  bar 
of  Charleston  one  of  its  most  conspicuous  and 
valuable  representatives. 

^^  Resolved,  That  while  we  deplore  this  great 
public  loss,  we  bow  with  reverence  to  the  decree 
of  the  Almighty  Judge  that  summoned  this  faith- 
ful minister  of  justice  from  the  transitory  courts 
of  time  to  the  Eternal  Courts,  in  which  there  is 
neither  error  nor  change. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  chairman  of  this  meeting 
be  requested  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing 
memoir  and  these  resolutions  to  the  family  of  the 
deceased,  and  to  express  the  condolence  of  the 
bar  on  this  solemn  occasion." 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  England 
Society,  December,  1874,  Hon.  James  B.  Campbell, 


132  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

president  of  the  Society,  paid  the  following  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  Judge  Dunkin: 

"Fifty-five  years  ago,  about  fifty  natives  of 
New  England  resident  here  founded  this  Society 
for  the  purpose,  as  they  declared,  of  keeping  alive 
in  their  minds  the  memory  of  the  land  of  their 
birth,  and  the  institutions  of  their  fathers,  and  for 
even  a  higher  object,  *  to  organize  an  efficient  sys- 
tem of  charity  to  such  sons  of  New  England  as 
might  in  Charleston  be  arrested  by  disease  or  fall 
into  poverty.' 

"The  survivor  of  all  that  little  'band  of  kind 
hearts  and  noble  spirits,'  after  a  long  and  honored 
life,  has  gone  to  his  rest. 

"There  is  now  on  the  roll  of  our  Society  no 
living  link  between  that  day  and  this  day — 
between  that  Past  and  this  Present. 

"He  had  wisdom  more  than  genius — acquire- 
ments rather  than  gifts — he  added  to  these  sys- 
tematic labor  and  care.  They  made  him  beyond 
a  doubt  a  wise  and  learned  judge. 

"The  features  of  his  character,  like  those  of 
his  person,  were  solid,  substantial,  and  permanent. 
In  what  he  did  he  aspired  more  to  durabihty 
than  ornament.  His  manners  in  the  perform- 
ance   of    public    duty   were   grave   and   formal, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         133 

something  rising  to  stateliness,  if  not  austerity. 
These  when  carried  into  social  life  were  softened 
and  mingled  with  a  genial  politeness  and  kindli- 
ness never  neglected. 

"As  a  man,  his  life  was  without  reproach.  He 
had  the  great  merit  of  fidelity  and  tenacity  in  his 
friendships.  They  were  not  exhausted  by  agree- 
able companionship  in  prosperity  nor  by  kind 
words  of  comfort  in  adversity.  He  vindicated 
them,  when  the  time  of  trial  came,  by  liberal 
and  effectual  succor.  It  is  very  high  praise  to 
say  this  because  it  is  the  evidence  of  other 
great  traits  of  character,  of  which  this  is  the 
germ. 

"He  was  brave  and  constant,  and  this  tem- 
pered him  for  adversity,  so  that  when  the  catas- 
trophe of  unsuccessful  revolution  deprived  him 
of  fortune  and  of  station  neither  his  fortitude  nor 
his  self-control  forsook  him.  Therefore  it  was 
that  the  way  he  bore  himself  in  old  age  under  the 
pressure  of  labor,  of  broken  fortunes,  and  of  hopes 
disappointed,  was  the  great  triumph,  the  crown- 
ing beauty  of  his  long  and  laborious  life;  a  life 
and  career  honorable  to  himself  and  reflecting 
honor  as  well  upon  the  region  of  his  birth  as  of 
his  labors  and  of  his  home,  the  memory  of  which, 


134  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

faithfully  transmitted  to  his  posterity,  will  be  the 
foundation  of  a  just  and  rational  pride." 

Majorum  gloria  posteris  lumen  est  neque 
bona  neque  mala  in  occulto  patitur. 

Judge  Dunkin  died  December  5,  1874,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-two,  loved  and  mourned  by  all  who 
knew  him. 

BENJAMIN  J.  ROWLAND 

Benjamin  J.  Rowland  was  born  in  South 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  November,  1794.  Mr. 
Rowland  traced  his  ancestry  direct  to  those  who 
were  among  the  earhest  to  land  from  the  Old 
World  upon  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and 
ever  retained  a  deep  interest  in  everything  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrims. 

Re  came  to  Charleston  in  181 5  and  was 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  for  more  than 
forty  years.  As  a  merchant  he  won  the  entire 
confidence  of  the  commercial  community  and  of 
his  fellow-citizens  by  his  active  usefulness,  strict 
integrity,  and  high  sense  of  honor. 

Re  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Society  of  Charleston  in  1828  and  so  continued 
until  his  death,  taking  a  lively  interest  during  a 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         135 

membership  of  near  half  a  century  in  everything 
connected  with  its  prosperity,  both  as  a  social 
and  as  a  charitable  organization.  He  was  for  a 
number  of  years  one  of  its  vice-presidents. 

In  everything  calculated  to  advance  the  pros- 
perity of  Charleston  Mr.  Rowland  always  took  a 
ready  and  active  working  part.  He  was  among 
those  sagacious  and  far-seeing  merchants  who  at 
an  early  period,  struggling  against  disheartening 
difficulties,  succeeded  in  connecting  Charleston 
with  Augusta  by  the  South  Carolina  Railroad, 
one  of  the  earliest  and  for  many  years  the  longest 
railroad  in  the  United  States.  He  served  in  the 
directorate  of  that  road  for  several  years. 

As  a  member  of  the  board  of  firemasters  he 
was  also  an  energetic  worker  for  many  years,  in 
which  position  his  sound  judgment  and  calmness 
in  time  of  danger  gave  great  value  to  his  services. 

Serving  as  a  member  of  the  Common  Council 
of  Charleston,  he  was  greatly  esteemed  by  those 
with  whom  he  was  associated,  invariably  giving 
entire  satisfaction  to  his  fellow-citizens  generally. 

The  leading  prominent  feature  in  the  character 
of  Mr.  Howland  seemed  to  have  been  his  open- 
hearted,  active,  practical  benevolence.  The  great 
aim  of  his  life  was  to  advance  the  welfare  and 


136  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

happiness  of  his  fellow-men.  In  the  promotion  of 
this  object  his  zeal  and  labors  were  unceasing. 

An  old  and  wonderfully  prosperous  savings 
institution  of  this  city  owed  its  existence  to  him, 
and  its  years  of  great  success  and  usefulness  were 
due  to  his  active  zeal,  aided  by  those  whom  he 
enlisted  in  that  work.  Its  subsequent  destruction 
was  among  the  great  calamities  of  the  war  which 
fell  upon  Charleston.  Its  leading  benevolent 
feature  at  one  time  was  its  investments  in  real 
estate  securities,  which,  if  adhered  to,  might  have 
saved  it  from  ruin. 

The  good  deeds  of  Mr.  Rowland  were  not  con- 
fined to  those  which  came  under  the  public  eye. 
He  was  vigilant  in  looking  for  those  who  needed 
assistance,  always  ready  to  render  it  by  word  or 
act,  without  ostentation  and  without  seeking 
applause. 

These  charitable  traits  of  character  and  habits 
of  benevolence  did  not  change  with  his  change  of 
home,  and  we  find  him  during  the  latter  years  of 
his  life,  while  a  resident  of  New  York,  actively 
and  energetically  engaged  as  a  member  of  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  an  institution  dedicated 
to  the  aid  and  reform  of  destitute  children  in  that 
city,  and  accomplishing  great  good. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         137 

Mr.  Howland  died  in  New  York  City,  Decem- 
ber 10,  1874,  having  attained  the  ripe  old  age  of 
more  than  fourscore  years. 


JOHN  EDWARDS  HOLBROOK 

John  Edwards  Holbrook  was  born  in  Beaufort, 
South  Carolina,  December  30,  1794.  He  died  in 
Norfolk,  Massachusetts,  September  8,  1871.  His 
early  life  was  spent  in  Wrentham,  Massachusetts, 
the  original  home  of  his  father's  family.  He  was 
graduated  from  Brown  University  in  181 5  and 
from  the  medical  department  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  in  1818.  He  continued  his  profes- 
sional studies  for  four  years  in  London,  Edinburgh, 
and  Paris.  He  married  Miss  Harriott  Pinckney 
Rutledge  in  1827.  Dr.  Holbrook  began  the 
practice  of  medicine  in  Charleston  in  1822.  The 
same  year  he  became  a  member  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Society.  Two  years  later  he  was  elected  pro- 
fessor of  anatomy  in  the  South  Carolina  Medical 
College,  where  he  taught  for  more  than  thirty 
years.  His  lectures  on  comparative  anatomy 
attracted  v\dde  attention.  Dr.  Holbrook's  greatest 
achievement  was  his  American  Herpetology,  or  a 
Description    of    Reptiles    Inhabiting    the    United 


138  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

States.  This  work  gave  him  not  only  a  national 
but  a  world-wide  reputation  as  a  leader  in  scientific 
thought.  For  a  time  Dr.  Holbrook  was  more 
famous  as  an  original  thinker  in  Europe  than  in 
America. 

In  an  appreciation  prepared  by  Dr.  T.  L. 
Ogier  and  published  in  1871,  the  following  state- 
ment is  of  interest: 

"Dr.  Holbrook  completed  his  work  on  herpetol- 
ogy,  on  which  he  had  long  been  engaged,  in  1842; 
but  before  its  completion  his  reputation  as  a  pro- 
ficient in  this  branch  of  natural  history  had  been 
made  by  the  correct  descriptions  and  accurate 
and  elegant  representations  of  the  animals  con- 
tained in  the  first  numbers  of  the  work. 

"He  visited  Europe  about  this  time  and  was 
received  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  with  open  arms 
by  Valenciennes  and  other  naturalists  whom  he 
had  known  before  his  attention  was  turned  to 
this  special  branch  of  natural  history.  In  the  vast 
collection  of  reptiles  in  the  museum  of  this  garden 
he  found  several  difi'erent  animals  grouped  under 
one  division  and  some  described  as  different 
varieties  which  were  only  the  young  of  a  class 
before  described.  He  pointed  out  these  mistakes 
and  made  them  evident  to  those  in  charge  of  the 


OTIS   MILLS 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         139 

museum,  who  were  the  chief  naturalists  of  Paris, 
and  was  invited  by  them  to  overhaul  the  ani- 
mals and  put  his  own  labels  on  them,  which  he 
did;  and  he  has  often  spoken  of  this  as  one  of 
the  greatest  compliments  paid  to  his  knowledge 
of  reptiles.  It  was  indeed  a  high  appreciation 
of  his  merit  as  a  naturalist. 

"Dr.  Holbrook's  work  on  herpetology,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  correct,  as  well  as  beautiful, 
ever  written,  was  undertaken  under  great  diffi- 
culties, and  only  a  true  lover  of  science  could  have 
surmounted  them.  In  his  Preface  he  says:  'In 
undertaking  the  present  work,  I  was  not  fully 
aware  of  the  many  difficulties  attending  it.  With 
an  immense  mass  of  materials,  without  libraries  to 
refer  to,  and  only  defective  museums  for  compari- 
son, I  have  been  constantly  in  fear  of  describing 
as  new,  animals  that  have  long  been  known  to 
European  naturalists.'  Yet,  with  all  these  diffi- 
culties, the  Doctor  succeeded  in  completing  his 
work,  which  is  now  considered  authoritative  in 
herpetolog>^ 

"After  the  publication  of  his  Herpetology, 
Dr.  Holbrook  commenced  a  work  of  the  ichthy- 
ology of  the  Southern  states.  This  was  a  laborious 
undertaking,  obliging  him  to  go  to  distant  parts  of 


I40  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

the  country  wherever  the  fishes  were  to  be  found, 
or  else  to  have  them  drawn  from  preserved  speci- 
mens in  which  the  colors  and,  in  fact,  the  charac- 
ter, of  the  animal  is  often  lost.  The  labor  of 
traveling  in  the  Southern  states,  up  the  rivers  and 
swamps,  was  too  great;  and  'his  love  of  truth 
requiring  that  all  his  plates  should  represent  living 
animals,'  and  not  those  shriveled  and  altered  by 
alcohol  and  other  preserving  fluids,  he  altered  the 
plan  of  his  work,  and  confined  his  studies  to  the 
Fishes  of  South  Carolina.  Of  this  work,  two 
numbers  with  most  accurate  and  beautiful  plates 
of  some  of  our  fishes  were  published,  showing 
what  a  splendid  work  it  would  have  been  had  he 
been  allowed  to  complete  it ;  but  a  fire  occurring  in 
Philadelphia,  where  the  work  was  being  published, 
destroyed  most  of  the  plates  and  much  of  the 
material  of  the  work.  This  misfortune,  being 
followed  by  the  late  war  which  necessarily  inter- 
fered with  his  studies,  put  an  end  to  his  labors  in 
this  beautiful  branch  of  natural  history,  to  which 
his  work  would  have  been  an  elegant  contribu- 
tion." 

Through  his  Herpetology  Dr.  Holbrook  became 
acquainted  with  Louis  Agassiz,  the  greatest 
naturalist  of  his  time.     The  acquaintance  grew 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         141 

into  a  deep  friendship,  Dr.  Holbrook  spending  a 
part  of  each  summer  at  the  home  of  Dr.  Agassiz 
in  New  England.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Hol- 
brook, Louis  Agassiz,  speaking  before  the  Natural 
History  Society  of  Boston,  paid  the  following 
tribute  to  his  dear  friend  and  colleague : 

"Highly  as  he  was  appreciated  by  all  to  whom 
he  was  personally  known  and  by  his  scientific 
peers  and  colleagues,  America  does  not  know 
what  she  has  lost  in  him  nor  what  she  owed  to 
him.  A  man  of  singularly  modest  nature,  eluding 
rather  than  courting  notice,  he  nevertheless  first 
compelled  European  recognition  of  American 
Science  by  the  accuracy  and  originality  of  his 
investigations.  I  well  remember  the  impression 
made  in  Europe  more  than  live  and  thirty  years 
ago  by  his  work  on  the  North  American  reptiles. 
Before  then,  the  supercilious  English  question,  so 
effectually  answered  since,  'Who  reads  an  American 
book  ?'  might  have  been  repeated  in  another  form, 
'Who  ever  saw  an  American  scientific  work?' 
But  Holbrook's  elaborate  history  of  American 
herpetology  was  far  above  any  previous  work  on 
the  same  subject.  In  that  branch  of  investiga- 
tion Europe  had  at  that  time  nothing  which  could 
compare  with  it." 


142  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Dr.  Holbrook  was  a  member  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  and  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences.  During  the  Civil  War,  he  was 
the  chairman  of  the  Examining  Board  of  Surgeons 
of  South  Carolina. 


HENRY  WORKMAN  CONNER 

Henry  Workman  Conner  was  born  near 
Beattie's  Ford,  Mecklenburg  County,  North 
Carolina,  March  4, 1 797.  He  was  of  Irish  descent, 
his  ancestors  having  come  to  America  from 
Antrim,  Ireland.  His  eldest  son.  General  James 
Conner,  merited  fame  as  a  Confederate  leader  in 
the  Civil  War  and  was  one  of  the  representative 
men  of  South  Carolina  in  the  years  that  followed. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  came  to  Charleston 
early  in  life,  entered  the  mercantile  business,  and 
gradually  by  reason  of  energy,  ambition,  ability, 
and  sterling  integrity  became  one  of  the  leading 
financiers  in  the  South. 

In  1835  he  was  a  factor  in  the  organization  of 
the  Bank  of  Charleston,  an  original  director,  and 
in  1 84 1  became  its  president.  This  bank  became 
nationally  prominent,  and  is  today  the  leading 
financial  institution  of  South  Carolina. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        143 

After  the  great  fire  of  1837,  it  was  largely- 
through  the  influence  and  faith  of  Mr.  Conner 
that  the  Charleston  Hotel  and  other  buildings  in 
its  immediate  vicinity  were  rebuilt.  Mr.  Conner 
was  assisted  in  this  momentous  task  by  Lorenzo 
Tucker  Potter,  a  New  Englander  and  a  member 
of  the  New  England  Society. 

In  1850  Mr.  Conner  was  elected  president  of 
the  South  Carolina  Railroad.  In  1853  he  went 
to  New  Orleans,  where  he  spent  five  years. 

He  was  president  of  the  Hibernian  Society  of 
Charleston  for  a  number  of  years,  and,  it  may  be 
said,  its  most  distinguished  president.  He  was 
also  active  and  liberal  in  all  of  the  charitable 
organizations  of  the  city. 

He  joined  the  New  England  Society  in  1828 
and  was  prominent  in  its  deliberations  for  a 
generation. 

He  died  January  11,  1861,  loved  and  mourned 
by  the  entire  city. 

The  New  Orleans  Commercial  Bulletin  said  of 
him  at  the  time  of  his  death : 

"The  two  communities  of  Charleston  and  New 
Orleans  have  to  regret  the  loss  of  a  member 
important  to  both.  A  half  a  century  passed  in 
active  business  placed  him  at  the  head  of  every 


144  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

movement,  mercantile  and  financial,  which  has 
been  inaugurated  in  the  former  place;  whilst  in 
the  latter  a  short  residence  of  some  five  years  was 
rapidly  leading  him  to  the  same  enviable  pre- 
eminence. Gifted  with  the  strongest  traits  of 
character,  he  was  felt  wherever  he  appeared  and 
he  left  his  impress  for  good  upon  everything  he 
touched.  Self-taught  and  self-sustained,  he  ever 
stood  the  man  among  the  men  of  the  occasion.  A 
powerful  mind  governed  a  strong  will  and  a  genial 
heart  directed  both  to  the  good  of  all  around  him. 
Energy  of  thought  and  energy  of  action  were 
directed  by  practical  sense — hence  success  followed 
every  effort,  and  public  institutions  and  private 
individuals  alike  have  reason  to  bless  the  healthful 
exercise  of  his  influence.  In  early  life  we  find  him 
a  merchant,  and  his  fitness  for  that  vocation  is 
evidenced  by  the  success  which  followed  him 
through  the  severest  trials.  Test  him  as  a  prac- 
tical man  and  his  energy  finds  a  glorious  illustra- 
tion in  the  results  of  the  railroad  system,  not  of 
South  Carolina  alone,  but  to  some  extent  of 
Georgia  also.  As  a  financier  he  shows  a  brilliant 
record  whilst  wielding  the  three  millions  of  the 
Bank  of  Charleston,  rendering  that  institution  a 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        145 

substitute  for  the  old  bank  of  the  United  States 
as  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  South,  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  As  a  private  banker  he  leaves  a  proud 
name,  not  in  America  alone,  but  through  all 
Christendom — a  name  accredited  where  commerce 
carries  a  flag  or  sends  an  adventurer.  To  have 
done  this  was  to  have  lived  to  some  purpose ;  but 
he  did  more.  As  a  patriot  he  lived  long  enough 
to  subscribe  his  name  to  the  Ordinance  of  Seces- 
sion of  the  state  of  South  Carolina;  this  has  made 
his  name  historic.  And  might  he  not  have  said 
as  the  prophet  of  old:  'Now  lettest  Thy  servant 
depart  in  peace.'  As  a  friend,  we  dare  not  per- 
mit ourselves  to  speak  of  him  lest  truth  might 
assume  the  appearance  of  exaggeration,  but  we 
may  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  hoarding  the  remem- 
brance of  his  acts  of  kindness  as  treasures  to  be 
garnered  in  our  hearts. 

"There  is  one  body  of  men  who  will  have  a 
special  tear  to  shed  for  him.  Those  who  remem- 
ber him  as  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Hibernian 
Society  of  Carohna  will  feel  their  hearts  swell 
when  they  call  to  mind  the  genial  glow  which 
suffused  itself  over  their  meetings  when  he  led 
them  to  deeds  of  charity  or  in  the  mirth  of  the 
hour. 


146  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"And  thus  in  all,  either  as  a  man  of  measures 
or  as  a  friend  indeed,  he  was  what  few  are  and 
what  all  should  wish  to  be." 


WILLIAM  COOMBS  DANA 

William  Coombs  Dana  was  of  Huguenot 
ancestry.  He  was  descended  from  Richard  Dana, 
who  fled  from  persecution  in  France  and  settled 
temporarily  in  England,  from  which  country  he 
emigrated  to  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  about 
1640,  where  he  died  April  2,  1690.  He  was  the 
ancestor  of  a  long  line  of  men  who  have  illus- 
trated the  history  of  New  England  in  all  the 
learned  professions,  in  literary  life,  and  in  high 
public  station.  The  Reverend  Dr.  Daniel  Dana, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  the  present  sketch, 
was  for  fifty  years  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  clergymen  of  New  England,  and  for 
part  of  that  time  president  of  Dartmouth  College. 
His  son,  William  C.  Dana,  whose  name  has  been 
so  long  and  prominently  associated  with  the 
history  of  Charleston,  came  to  this  city  in  1835, 
preaching  in  the  church  in  which  his  life  was  spent 
for  the  first  time  in  December  of  that  year,  and 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         147 

being  ordained  to  the  ministry  and  installed  as 
pastor,  February,  1836.  His  preparation  for  the 
holy  office  had  enjoyed  the  privilege  alike  of 
Andover,  Princeton,  and  Columbia  Theological 
seminaries,  and  he  was  a  workman  fully  finished 
for  his  work. 

To  a  literary  taste  that  was  exquisitely  delicate 
he  added  a  passionate  fondness  for  all  that  was 
good  and  a  wide  familiarity  with  all  that  was  best 
in  literature.  He  was  an  accurate  and  elegant 
classical  scholar  and  a  polished  and  luminous 
writer.  In  1831  he  published  a  translation  of 
Fenelon.  In  1845  he  issued  a  volume  containing 
an  account  of  his  travels  in  Europe  during  the  pre- 
ceding year,  entitled  Transatlantic  Tour;  in  1866 
he  pubhshed  The  Life  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Daniel  / 
Dana,  his  father.  He  paid  especial  attention  to 
the  hymnolog>^  and  compiled  a  volume  of  hymns. 
He  was  also  the  author  of  several  very  choice 
poetical  effusions  which  were  received  with  much 
favor  by  the  literary  public,  and  yet  his  devotion 
to  general  letters  did  not  demand  in  sacrifice 
either  the  literature  or  the  labor  of  his  chosen  and 
sacred  calling.  Upon  all  questions  of  theology  he 
was  deeply  read,  and  in  all  the  trying,  practical 


148  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

duties  of  his  work  he  was  diligent  and  inde- 
fatigable. 

His  ministry  of  nearly  half  a  century  to  a  single 
congregation,  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
one  of  the  most  cultured  and  intellectual  that 
Charleston  could  boast,  and  at  a  time  when 
Charleston  was  a  center  of  literary  and  intellectual 
excellence  as  it  had  scarcely  ever  been  before,  and 
the  loving  devotion  of  the  entire  city,  speak 
eloquently  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Society  in  1843  ^^^  acted  as  its  chaplain  on  a 
number  of  important  occasions. 

CHARLES  UPHAM  SHEPARD 

Charles  Upham  Shepard  was  born  at  Little 
Compton,  Rhode  Island,  June  29,  1804.  He  was 
graduated  from  Amherst  College  in  1824.  The 
following  year  he  specialized  in  botany  and 
mineralogy  under  the  direction  of  Professor 
Thomas  Nuttall  at  Harvard. 

Mr.  Shepard 's  papers  on  mineralogy  published 
in  the  American  Journal  of  Science  attracted  the 
attention  of  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman,  of  Yale. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         149 

He  was  invited  in  1827  to  become  Professor 
Silliman's  assistant  and  continued  so  until  1831. 
Meanwhile  for  a  year  he  was  curator  of  Franklin 
Hall,  an  institution  that  was  estabhshed  by  James 
Brewster  in  New  Haven  for  popular  lectures  on 
scientific  subjects  to  mechanics.  In  1830  he  was 
appointed  lecturer  on  natural  history  at  Yale  and 
held  that  place  until  1847.  He  was  associated 
with  Professor  Silliman  in  the  scientific  examina- 
tion of  the  culture  and  manufacture  of  sugar 
that  was  undertaken  by  the  latter  at  the  special 
request  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  and 
the  Southern  states,  particularly  Louisiana  and 
Georgia,  were  assigned  to  him  to  report  upon. 
From  1834  till  1 861  he  filled  the  chair  of  chemis- 
try in  the  Medical  College  of  the  state  of  South 
Carolina,  which  he  relinquished  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Civil  War,  but  in  1865,  at  the  urgent  invi- 
tation of  his  former  colleagues,  he  resumed  his 
duties  for  a  few  years.  While  in  Charleston  he 
discovered  rich  deposits  of  phosphate  of  lime  in 
the  inamediate  vicinity  of  this  city.  Then:  great 
value  in  agriculture  and  subsequent  use  in  the 
manufacture  of  superphosphate  fertilizers  proved 
an  important  addition  to  the  chemical  industries 
of  South  Carolina. 


I50  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

He  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Society  in  1843  and  delivered  a  number  of  scholarly- 
addresses  at  its  annual  dinners  on  Forefathers' 
Day. 

In  1845  he  was  chosen  professor  of  chemistry 
and  natural  history  in  Amherst,  which  chair  was 
divided  in  1852,  and  he  continued  to  deliver  the 
lectures  on  natural  history  until  1877,  when  he 
was  made  professor  emeritus.  He  was  associated 
in  1835  with  Dr.  James  G.  Percival  in  the  geologi- 
cal sur\'ey  of  Connecticut,  and  throughout  his  life 
he  was  actively  engaged  in  the  study  of  mineral- 
ogy. He  announced  in  1835  ^is  discovery  of  his 
first  new  species  of  microlite,  that  of  warwickite 
in  1838,  that  of  danburite  in  1839,  and  he  after- 
ward described  many  new  minerals  until  shortly 
before  his  death.  Professor  Shepard  acquired  a 
large  collection  of  minerals,  which  at  one  time 
was  unsurpassed  in  this  country,  and  which  in 
1877  was  purchased  by  Amherst  College  but 
three  years  later  was  partially  destroyed  by  fire. 
Early  in  life  he  began  the  study  and  collection  of 
meteorites,  and  his  cabinet,  long  the  largest  in  the 
country,  likewise  became  the  property  of  Amherst. 
His  papers  on  this  subject  from  1829  till  1882 
were  nearly  forty  in  number  and  appeared  chiefly 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         151 

in  the  American  Journal  of  Science.  The  honorary 
degree  of  M.D.  was  conferred  on  him  by  Dart- 
mouth in  1836,  and  that  of  LL.D.  by  Amherst  in 
1857.  Professor  Shepard  was  a  member  of  many 
American  and  foreign  societies,  including  the 
Imperial  Society  of  Natural  Science  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, the  Royal  Society  of  Gottingen,  and  the 
societies  of  natural  sciences  in  Vienna. 

In  addition  to  his  many  papers,  he  published 
a  Treatise  on  Mineralogy,  a  Report  on  the  Geological 
Survey  of  Connecticut,  and  numerous  reports  on 
mines  in  the  United  States. 

Professor  Shepard  died  in  Charleston,  May  i, 
1886.  He  was  one  of  the  great  scientists  of  his 
day. 

CHARLES  ROYAL  BREWSTER 

Charles  Royal  Brewster  was  born  at  Burton, 
York  County,  Maine,  July  23,  1808.  He  died  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  July  16,  1885. 

Mr.  Brewster  was  graduated  with  honors  from 
Bowdoin  College  in  1828.  He  studied  law  in 
Boston,  Massachusetts.  He  came  to  Charleston, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  in  1831. 
After  teaching  school  for  two  years,  he  was 
admitted   to    the    bar   of    South    Carohna   and 


152  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

immediately  entered  into  copartnership  with 
Hon.  B.  F.  Dunkin,  afterward  chief  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state. 

Upon  the  accession  of  the  latter  to  the  bench 
as  chancellor,  Mr.  Brewster  formed  a  connection 
with  Hon.  Henry  Bailey,  then  attorney-general, 
which  continued  ten  years.  After  that  he  formed 
at  different  times  various  business  engagements 
with  A.  H.  Dunkin,  then  with  Hon.  Robert 
Munro,  and  since  the  war  with  Colonel  L.  W. 
Spratt  and  Mr.  J.  E.  Burke. 

An  editorial  published  in  the  News  and  Courier 
July  17,  1885,  gives  the  following  estimate  of 
Mr.  Brewster's  character: 

"Mr.  Brewster's  life  presented  no  glaring 
contrasts  or  striking  changes,  no  remarkable  vi- 
cissitudes, no  peculiar  elevations  or  unusual  de- 
pressions. He  kept  the  even  tenor  of  his  way, 
pursuing  the  path  of  duty  as  it  appeared  to  him, 
as  with  a  kind  heart,  tender  conscience,  and  clear 
intellect  he  sought  to  understand  his  obligations 
in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and,  understanding, 
to  discharge  them  completely.  Like  a  calm  and 
peaceful  river  running  its  passage  to  the  sea,  his  life 
flowed  along  until  it  mingled  with  the  ocean  of  eter- 
nity, not  without  dispensing  blessings  in  its  course. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         153 


i( 


As  a  lawyer  he  added  to  the  clear  and  sound 
judgment  of  a  mind  well  stocked  with  legal  knowl- 
edge untiring  industry  in  the  preparation  of  his 
cases  and  devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  clients. 
Toward  his  brethren  of  the  profession  he  con- 
stantly exhibited  that  urbanity  of  manner  which 
was  but  the  index  of  his  kindly  feelings  which 
actuated  him  in  his  dealings  with  them;  and 
while  advocating  with  his  utmost  power  the 
rights  committed  to  his  care,  he  never  forgot 
what  was  just  and  courteous  to  his  adversaries. 

"As  he  was  regular  in  habit  and  even  in  dis- 
position, so  the  character  of  Mr.  Brewster  was 
well  rounded  in  every  respect.  As  a  moral  and 
religious  man  he  endeavored  to  fulfil  the  duties 
he  owed  to  his  God;  as  a  husband  and  the  head 
of  a  family  he  did  all  that  in  him  lay  to  promote 
the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  household;  as  a 
citizen  he  was  alive  to  all  that  concerned  the 
common  good  of  state,  city,  and  county,  and 
cheerfully  gave  his  support  to  all  measures  tend- 
ing to  the  public  benefit.  As  a  professional  man 
he  was  able,  liigh  toned,  devoted,  courteous,  and 
just. 

"In  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  especially,  his 
mild   and   genial   nature   impressed   many   with 


154  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

whom  he  was  daily  brought  in  contact,  for  to  the 
last  he  was  busy  among  men.  Many  who  are  but 
acquaintances  will  remember  with  kindness  the 
good  old  man  with  youthful  spirits  and  never  a 
bitter  word  to  wound  his  fellow-man,  while  those 
to  whom  he  was  nearer  and  dearer  throughout 
their  lives  will  treasure  his  memory  with  grateful 
and  affectionate  regard." 

STEPHEN  AUGUSTUS  HURLBUT 

Stephen  Augustus  Hurlbut  was  born  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  November  29,  181 5. 
He  was  of  New  England  stock. 

Mr.  Hurlbut  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  South  Carolina  in  1837.  Three  years 
later  he  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Society.  When  the  "Florida  War"  broke  out, 
he  gave  up  his  law  practice  temporarily  and 
entered  the  service  as  adjutant  of  a  South  Carolina 
regiment. 

In  1845  tie  went  to  Illinois  and  practiced  his 
profession  in  Belvidere.  He  was  a  presidential 
elector  on  the  Whig  ticket  in  1848,  was  a  member 
of  the  legislature  in  1859,  1861,  and  1867,  and 
presidential  elector  at  large  on  the  Repubhcan 
ticket  in  1869.     At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         155 

he  was  appointed  a  brigadier  general  of  volunteers 
and  commanded  at  Fort  Donelson  after  its  capture 
in  February,  1862.  When  General  Grant's  army 
moved  up  the  Tennessee  River,  Hurlbut  com- 
manded the  Fourth  Division,  and  was  the  first  to 
reach  Pittsburg  Landing,  which  he  held  for  a 
week  alone.  He  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
major  general  for  meritorious  conduct  at  the 
Battle  of  Shiloh,  was  then  stationed  at  Memphis, 
and  after  the  Battle  of  Corinth,  in  October,  1862, 
pursued  and  engaged  the  defeated  Confederates. 
He  commanded  at  Memphis  in  September,  1863, 
led  a  corps  under  Sherman  in  the  expedition 
to  Meridian  in  February,  1864,  and  succeeded 
General  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  in  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  serving  there  from  1864 
till  1865,  when  he  was  honorably  mustered  out. 

Mr.  Hurlbut  was  appointed  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  RepubHc  at  the 
first  annual  encampment  in  1866. 

He  was  Minister  of  the  United  States  to 
Colombia  from  1869  till  1872,  and  was  then 
elected  a  representative  to  Congress  from  lUinois 
as  a  Republican  for  two  consecutive  terms, 
serving  from  1873  till  1877.  In  1881  he  was 
appointed    Minister    to    Peru,    which    office    he 


156  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

retained  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Lima, 
Peru,  March  27,  1882. 

ALVA  GAGE 

Alva  Gage  was  born  in  New  London,  New 
Hampshire,  March  14,  1820.  As  a  young  man, 
he  engaged  in  business  in  Charlestown,  Massa- 
chusetts. In  1853  he  came  to  Charleston,  with 
whose  practical  enterprise  and  public  institutions 
he  was  prominently  identified  until  his  decease — 
serving  as  alderman,  market  and  orphan  house 
commissioner,  director  of  the  People's  National 
Bank  and  the  Lockhart  Mills;  first  vice-president 
of  the  Associated  Charities  Society,  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  founders  and  to  which  he  gave 
five  thousand  dollars,  in  addition  to  the  donation 
of  constant  funds  to  meet  emergent  cases;  second 
vice-president  of  the  William  Enston  Home,  "to 
make  old  age  comfortable  " ;  second  vice-president 
of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Animals,  and  a  prominent  member  and  munificent 
benefactor  of  the  church  of  his  own  and  ancestral 
faith.  The  Alva  Gage  Hall,  the  parish  house  of 
the  Unitarian  Church  of  Charleston,  is  a  memorial 
to  Mr.  Gage. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         157 

He  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Society  in  1855,  two  years  after  his  arrival  in 
Charleston,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  Septem- 
ber 12,  1896,  was  the  oldest  in  membership  on 
the  roll  of  the  Society. 

The  New  England  Society  paid  the  following 
tribute  to  Mr.  Gage  at  a  meeting  held  immediately 
after  his  death : 

"  'Let  him  to  whom  I  have  done  violence  or 
injustice  now  appear,  and  I  am  ready  to  make 
reparation.'  So  said  a  dying  leader  of  men  who 
passed  from  earth  many  centuries  ago.  And  so 
with  far,  far  more  truth  could  he  have  said,  our 
brother,  who  looked  his  last  upon  earth  and  air 
and  sea  and  sky  since  we  last  gathered  in  the 
intercourse,  so  dear  to  him,  of  this  Society,  and 
whose  absence  leaves  a  void  which  we  dare  not 
hope  to  fill. 

"If  ever  a  man  singularly  equipped  by  nature 
and  training  for  the  active  pursuits  of  life  and 
incessantly  occupied  with  them  kept  his  heart 
more  tender,  his  hand  more  responsive  to  it,  and 
his  conscience  more  clear  of  intentional  ^vrong 
than  Alva  Gage,  it  has  scarcely  been  our  lot  to 
know  him.     For  forty- three  years  his  life  was 


158  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

lived  here,  amid  a  people  differing  from  his  own 
in  race  and  tradition  and  largely  of  differing 
religious  convictions;  a  people  proud  of  their 
own  birthright  of  noble  ancestry  and  fixed  in 
steadfastness  to  their  own  modes  of  life  and 
habits  of  thought,  which  were  other  than  those 
in  which  he  had  been  nurtured.  That,  in  a 
commimity  such  as  this  was  when  he  came  to 
it,  the  young  New  Englander  earned  a  place  of 
respect,  confidence,  honor,  and  love,  which  in- 
creased with  increasing  years — and  through  all 
the  changes  wrought  by  a  war  which  uprooted 
the  very  foundations  of  its  social  fabric  increased 
without  the  sacrifice  of  a  single  conscientious 
conviction,  until  the  whole  community  mourned 
his  loss  as  that  of  a  model  citizen  and  pubHc 
benefactor!  That  this  could  be,  and  was,  is  a 
tribute  to  our  brother  compared  to  which  all 
others  are  meaningless.  If  the  end  came  sud- 
denly to  this  blameless  and  bountiful  life,  that  life 
could  afford  that  thus  it  should  be.  He  does  not 
die  silent  whose  helpfulness  to  others  is  inspired 
by  his  own  hands,  folded  though  they  be  in  their 
last  sleep. 

"As  a  public  tribute  to  our  lamented  brother, 
be  it 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         159 

"Resolved,  That  this  memorial  of  Alva  Gage, 
the  philanthropist  and  friend  of  every  good  cause, 
the  eminent  citizen  and  stainless  man,  our  brother 
beloved,  be  spread  upon  the  record  book  of  the 
New  England  Society,  and  that  a  page  of  that 
record  book  be  consecrated  to  his  memory. 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  memorial, 
suitably  engrossed  and  signed  by  the  president 
and  secretary,  be  furnished  to  the  widow  of  our 
departed  fellow-member." 

GEORGE  WALTON  WILLIAMS 

George  Walton  WiUiams  was  born  in  Burke 
County,  North  Carolina,  December  19,  1820. 
His  ancestors  emigrated  to  America  from  Wales 
on  account  of  rehgious  persecution.  In  1799 
Edward  WiUiams,  of  Easton,  Massachusetts, 
came  to  Charleston  and  located  for  a  time,  later 
going  to  western  North  Carolina,  where  he 
became  a  successful  farmer  and  merchant.  Dur- 
ing his  sojourn  in  North  Carolina,  Edward 
WiUiams  married  Mary  BrowTi.  Eight  children 
were  born  to  this  union,  George  Walton  being  the 
fourth  and  youngest  son.  At  the  age  of  three, 
young  George  Walton  was  taken  by  his  parents 


i6o  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

to  Nacoochee,  Georgia.     In  this  beautiful  valley 
his  childhood  and  early  youth  were  spent. 

While  in  his  teens  young  Williams  went  to 
Augusta,  Georgia,  and  began  his  business  career 
as  a  clerk  in  a  wholesale  grocery  establishment. 
In  a  few  years  he  became  a  partner  in  the  business 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  a  director  in  the 
State  Bank  of  Georgia.  Mr.  Williams  came  to 
Charleston  in  1852  and  established  the  whole- 
sale grocery  house  of  George  W.  Williams  and 
Company.  Four  years  later  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  England  Society  and  subsequently 
vice-president. 

When  the  Civil  War  began  in  i860,  Mr. 
Williams  was  the  head  of  two  great  mercantile 
establishments,  a  director  of  two  railroads,  a 
director  of  the  Bank  of  South  CaroHna,  and  the 
financial  counselor  of  the  city  of  Charleston  and 
of  a  large  number  of  friends. 

Five  of  Mr.  Williams'  partners  were  in  the 
Confederate  Army  and  all  of  his  clerks  in  service. 
Food  of  every  description  became  scarce  and 
prices  became  higher  from  day  to  day.  In  this 
condition  Mr.  Williams  no  longer  had  a  heart  for 
trade.  As  Mr.  Williams  was  an  alderman  of  the 
city  of  Charleston  and  chairman  of  the  committee 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         i6i 

on  ways  and  means,  Mayor  Macbeth  needed  his 
services  in  Charleston  to  aid  in  managing  the 
finances. 

The  state  legislature  had  appointed  Mr. 
Williams  commissary  to  procure  provisions  for 
the  soldiers'  families,  and  he  was  appointed  by 
the  city  council  of  Charleston  manager  of  the 
subsistence  stores  to  procure  supplies  for  the 
poor  of  Charleston.  Mr.  Williams,  having  cor- 
respondents in  all  of  the  Southern  states,  at  once 
adopted  measures  to  procure  the  needed  supplies, 
which  were  issued  under  his  personal  supervision 
without  his  charging  one  cent  for  his  services  or 
for  rent  on  the  buildings  which  were  occupied. 

Mr.  WiUiams  with  his  usual  skill,  promptness, 
and  energy  threw  himself  into  this  labor  of  use- 
fulness, and  through  his  exertions  thousands  of 
the  destitute  and  suffering  were  supplied  with 
food  daily  to  the  end  of  the  war.  The  friends  of 
Mr.  Williams  regarded  this  beneficent  enterprise 
and  labor  as  the  crowning  achievement  of  his 
life. 

The  gigantic  undertaking  under  the  most  try- 
ing circumstances,  shut  out  by  land  and  sea,  with 
its  endless  details  of  duty,  its  cares,  trials,  diffi- 
culties, and  responsibilities,  was  of  an  exhausting 


1 62  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

character  and  proved  almost  beyond  his  power 
of  mental  and  physical  endurance.  Nevertheless 
he  held  his  ground  and  stood  steadfast  at  his  post 
to  the  last. 

The  very  day  that  the  city  fell,  he  issued 
rations  to  some  ten  thousand  people,  all  grades 
and  colors,  from  his  private  residence,  located 
near  Hampstead  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
city;  he  had  removed  from  George  Street  in 
consequence  of  the  bombardment. 

So  great  was  the  pressure  the  day  of  the  evacu- 
ation that  it  was  necessary  to  barricade  the 
doors  of  the  dwelling  and  distribute  the  provisions 
through  the  windows,  for  everything  in  Charleston 
was  in  the  wildest  state  of  confusion.  At  one 
moment  when  the  crush  was  greatest,  a  terrible 
explosion  took  place  at  the  Northeastern  Depot, 
by  which,  it  was  said,  several  hundred  persons  had 
lost  their  Hves,  and  it  was  believed  that  the 
immense  powder  magazine  in  the  Half  Moon 
Battery  near  his  dwelling  had  been  blown  up. 
The  panic  occasioned  by  this  dreadful  catastrophe 
beggars  all  description. 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  details  that  Mr. 
WiUiams  was  in  Charleston  when  the  city  was 
evacuated  by  the  Confederate  forces. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         163 

Through  his  appeal  to  the  retiring  Confederate 
general  the  day  before  the  surrender,  he  obtained 
an  order  written  by  R.  G.  Gilchrist,  the  general's 
private  secretary,  for  all  remaining  supplies  and 
stores  of  the  Confederate  government.  These 
were  destined  to  the  flames,  but  were  thus  saved 
by  his  prompt  action. 

The  fires  caused  by  the  burning  of  cotton,  by 
gunboats,  and  in  part  by  incendiaries  were  then 
raging  fiercely  and  threatened  to  lay  the  city  in 
ashes.  In  this  crisis  Mr.  Williams  called  on  the 
Mayor  to  urge  upon  him  the  necessity  of  sur- 
rendering the  city,  especially  as  the  fire  depart- 
ment was  disorganized  in  consequence  of  its 
members  being  arrested  by  the  small  squads  of 
Confederate  soldiers  who  had  been  left  in  Charles- 
ton for  that  purpose. 

Mayor  Macbeth  appointed  Alderman  W.  H. 
Gilliland  and  George  W.  Williams  to  be  the 
bearers  to  Morris  Island  of  the  following  com- 
munication : 

To  the  General  Commanding  the  Army  of  the  United  States, 
at  Morris  Island 

Sir: 

The  military  authorities  of  the  Confederate  states 
have  evacuated  this  city.     I  have  remained  to  enforce 


1 64  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

law  and  preserve  order  until  you  take  such  steps  as  you 
may  think  best. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Charles  Macbeth,  Mayor 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Williams,  learning  that 
the  United  States  troops  under  Colonel  A.  G. 
Bennett  were  landing  on  Atlantic  Wharf,  in  the 
rear  of  the  old  Exchange,  proceeded  to  that 
place  and  had  an  interview  with  Colonel  Bennett. 
Mr.  Williams  informed  him  of  the  disorganized 
condition  of  things  in  Charleston  and  asked  for 
assistance  to  aid  in  extinguishing  the  fires.  The 
assistance  was  furnished  by  Colonel  Bennett. 

After  the  interview,  the  subjoined  reply  was 
sent  to  the  Mayor's  note: 

Headquarters,  United  States  Forces 
Charleston  Harbor 
N.  Atlantic  Wharf,  February  i8,  1865 
Mayor  Charles  Macbeth: 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
communication  of  this  date.  I  have,  in  reply  thereto,  to 
state  that  the  troops  under  my  command  will  render 
every  possible  assistance  to  your  well-disposed  citizens  in 
extinguishing  the  fires  now  burning.  I  have  the  honor  to 
be,  Mayor,  very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  G.  Bennett 

Lieutenant   Colonel   Commanding    United   States   Forces, 
Charleston 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         165 

The  navy  took  possession  of  Fort  Moultrie 
and  Castle  Pinckney,  and  a  volunteer  party  of 
ten  men  from  Morris  Island  planted  the  United 
States  flag  on  Sumter.  The  soldiers  took  pos- 
session of  the  citadel  and  arsenal.  Mr.  Williams 
procured  from  the  Federal  military  authorities  a 
guard  to  protect  the  several  mills  and  ware- 
houses in  which  the  provisions  had  been  stored 
and  thus  saved  from  the  devouring  flames  food 
enough  to  sustain  twenty  thousand  people  for 
three  months,  which  he  issued  to  the  citizens  after 
the  fall  of  Charleston  when  they  had  neither 
money  nor  the  means  of  procuring  support. 
Many  were  thus  rescued  from  great  want  and 
suffering. 

When  the  war  was  over,  Mr.  Williams  went  to 
Washington,  D.C.,  and  procured  a  charter  for 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Charleston,  with  a 
capital  of  $500,000,  intending  to  be  its  president; 
but  on  account  of  the  importunity  of  many 
friends  he  gave  up  his  original  plan  and  returned 
to  his  wholesale  business,  which  was  the  first 
commercial  establishment  to  open  its  doors  after 
the  Civil  War. 

Mr.  Williams  later  opened  a  banking  house 
and  in  1874  organized  the  Carolina  Savings  Bank 


1 66  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

and  became  its  first  president.  This  bank,  one  of 
the  great  savings  banks  of  the  South,  is  now 
owned  and  managed  by  his  sons. 

An  outstanding  fact  in  the  wonderful  financial 
career  of  Mr.  Williams  is  that  when  he  started 
out  for  himself  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  his  only- 
possession,  materially  speaking,  was  ten  dollars. 
A  number  of  years  before  his  death  he  made  a 
careful  estimate  of  his  financial  ventures  and 
foxmd  that  he  had  distributed  in  earnings  to  his 
partners  and  others  more  than  twenty-five  million 
dollars. 

Mr.  Williams  was  twice  married;  first  to 
Louisa  A.  Wightman,  in  1843,  sister  of  Bishop 
Wniiam  M.  Wightman,  a  lady  of  deep  piety, 
possessing  many  of  the  characteristics  of  her 
brother  and  of  her  sainted  mother.  His  second 
wife  was  Martha  F.  Porter,  a  daughter  of  John 
W.  Porter,  of  Madison,  Georgia,  a  lady  of  rare 
qualities  of  heart,  mind,  and  person.  This 
marriage  took  place  in  November,  1856. 

Mr.  Williams  died  January  6,  1903.  The 
News  and  Courier  of  Charleston  paid  him  the 
following  tribute: 

"Mr.  Williams  was  endowed  with  strong  will 
power,  great  tenacity  of  purpose,  was  quick  in 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA    167 

perception,  fertile  in  resources,  active  and  ener- 
getic, with  a  tough,  wiry,  rather  than  robust, 
frame,  and  enjoyed  uniformly  excellent  health. 
His  life  has  been  one  of  devoted  industry  and 
earnestly  practical  results.  In  his  business  trans- 
actions he  did  not  waste  time  or  words,  but  acted 
as  it  were  by  intuition,  rarely  stopping  to  reason 
but  reaching  his  conclusions  by  his  first  impulse. 
'Instinct,'  he  said,  'is  honest,  while  reason  is 
subject  to  a  thousand  influences  and  is  often 
unreliable.' 

"Mr.  Williams  allowed  himself  few  seasons  of 
repose  or  recreation,  but  found  time  to  visit 
Cuba,  Canada,  various  portions  of  the  United 
States,  and  made  the  tour  of  Europe  twice.  An 
example  of  the  wonderful  versatility  of  Mr. 
Williams  is  found  in  his  literary  work.  Amid 
the  turmoil  of  a  commercial  career  he  found 
leisure  to  present  to  the  world,  in  Uterary  form, 
some  of  the  results  of  his  vast  experience.  From 
time  to  time  he  has  written,  modestly,  without 
effort  or  pretension,  yet  with  an  ability  which 
would  do  credit  to  some  of  the  practiced  pens 
of  literature,  a  series  of  letters  upon  topics 
of  high  interest.  His  Letters  to  Young  Men — 
twenty  thousand  letters  to  young  men  have  been 


1 68  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

gratuitously  distributed  in  the  past  twenty  years — 
Success  and  Failure,  Making  and  Saving,  may  be 
perused  with  profit  by  all  who  wish  to  emulate 
the  worthy  example  of  a  worthy  man.  He  has 
also  published  a  volume  of  five  hundred  pages, 
Sketches  of  Travel  in  the  Old  and  New  World. 

"There  is  no  citizen  in  the  South  who,  by  his 
teachings  and  example,  and  by  the  introduction 
of  wise  and  beneficent  measures,  and  by  the 
foundation  of  a  financial  institution  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  young,  by  building  and 
founding  commercial  houses,  has  been  of  more 
benefit  to  the  city  and  state  of  his  adoption 
than  George  W.  Williams." 

JOHN  R.  READ 

John  R.  Read  was  born  at  Antrim,  New 
Hampshire,  September  5,  1831.  His  parents 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts 
and  were  of  Puritan  origin. 

He  came  to  Charleston,  South  CaroHna,  in 
1850  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  with 
his  brother,  under  the  firm  name  of  W.  W.  and 
J.  R.  Read,  which  afterward  became  the  well- 
known  house  of  J.  R.  Read  and  Company. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         169 

During  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Read's  sympathies 
were  with  the  South.  He  was  an  active  member 
of  the  famous  fire  department  of  Charleston 
which  rendered  valuable  assistance  to  the  Con- 
federate cause  during  the  war  period. 

He  was  a  leading  merchant  in  the  city  of 
Charleston  for  sixty  years.  He  was  always 
ready  to  assist  any  enterprise  which  stood  for  the 
upbuilding  of  the  city  of  his  adoption. 

He  was  vice-president  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, an  active  member  of  many  charitable 
organizations,  and  a  liberal  contributor  to  all 
objects  of  merit. 

Mr.  Read  became  a  member  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  in  1858,  served  as  a  member  of  the 
committee  on  charity,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  January  23,  191 1,  was  senior  vice-president. 

He  was  a  member  of  Grace  Episcopal  Church 
for  fifty-six  years  and  was  devoted  to  its  interests, 
serving  as  vestryman  and  warden. 

Mr.  Read's  line  spirit  of  magnanimity  was 
exhibited  in  an  incident  which  occurred  during 
his  service  as  senior  warden.  A  new  departure 
was  proposed  by  the  rector  which  meant  radical 
changes  in  the  conduct  of  the  church  service  and 
which  also  involved  the  expenditure  of  a  large  sum 


I70  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

of  money.  This  venture  was  vigorously  opposed 
by  Mr.  Read.  One  year  after  the  changes  were 
made,  Mr.  Read  said:  "I  was  wrong  in  my 
opposition."  A  short  time  afterward  he  died, 
leaving  a  legacy  to  the  church  and  designating 
that  it  be  used  in  payment  of  the  debt  incurred 
by  the  changes  he  had  opposed. 


JOHN  SOMERS  BUIST 

John  Somers  Buist,  M.A.,  M.D.,  was  bom  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  November  26,  1839. 
He  graduated  at  the  College  of  Charleston  in 
1859  and  at  the  Medical  College  of  South  Carolina 
in  1 86 1.  He  immediately  entered  the  Confeder- 
ate Army  as  an  assistant  surgeon  and  for  a  time 
served  with  the  famous  Hampton  Legion.  In 
1863  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  surgeon 
major  and  attached  to  Colonel  Haskell's  command 
in  General  Robert  E.  Lee's  army,  where  he  served 
with  marked  ability  and  great  gallantry. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  Dr.  Buist  returned  to 
Charleston  and  became  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent physicians  and  surgeons  in  his  native  state, 
successively  holding  the  following  important 
positions:     city   health    officer,    surgeon   to   the 


JAMES    B.  CAMPBELL 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         171 

Roper  Hospital  and  to  the  United  States  Marine 
Hospital,  president  of  the  South  Carolina  Medi- 
cal Society,  professor  of  general  surgery  at  the 
Medical  College  of  South  Carolina,  a  member  of 
the  first  board  of  commissioners  of  the  New 
Roper"  Hospital,  vice-president  of  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  the  Charleston  Orphan  House, 
trustee  of  the  College  of  Charleston,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  Alumni  Association  of  the  College  of 
Charleston. 

Dr.  Buist  was  not  only  a  great  influence  in 
his  professional  life  but  also  as  a  man  of  affairs 
generally  in  the  community.  He  was  a  director 
in  the  Dime  Savings  Bank  and  a  director  in  the 
Charleston  ConsoHdated  Company.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  Masons  in  South  Carohna, 
being  one  of  the  few  men  of  his  state  to  attain  the 
thirty-third  degree  in  that  famous  order. 

Dr.  Buist  became  a  member  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  in  1881,  served  as  steward  for  many 
years,  and  was  at  the  time  of  his  death,  Septem- 
ber 29,  1910,  junior  vice-president.  He  also 
delivered  a  number  of  addresses  to  the  Society, 
which  is  another  evidence  of  his  wonderful  ver- 
satility. As  a  public  speaker  he  had  few  peers  in 
South  Carolina. 


172  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

VAN  NEST  TALMAGE 

Van  Nest  Talmage  was  born  in  Brooklyn, 
New  York,  March,  1844.  He  was  a  business 
genius  from  his  early  boyhood.  He  founded  the 
well-known  firm  of  Dan  Talmage  and  Sons  of 
New  York  when  a  mere  youth. 

Mr.  Talmage  came  to  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  in  1871  and  within  an  incredibly  short 
tune  built  up  the  largest  rice  business  in  South 
Carolina.  He  became  a  life  member  of  the  New 
England  Society  in  1877.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  the  Society  by  a  unanimous  vote  adopted 
the  following  minute : 

"In  the  mysterious  orderings  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, we  are  called  upon  to  record  the  loss  by 
death  of  a  member  of  this  Society,  Mr.  Van  Nest 
Talmage,  who  after  a  brief  illness  passed  to  his 
rest  on  March  30,  1880.     Be  it 

^^  Resolved,  That  we  hereby  unitedly  express  a 
sense  of  the  loss  we,  in  common  with  the  com- 
munity at  large,  have  sustained  in  the  removal  of 
this  estimable  man.  His  was  a  character  of  rare 
merit;  by  nature  manly  and  generous;  in  dis- 
position genial  and  considerate;  in  habit  indus- 
trious and  temperate;  denying  himseK  for  the 
sake  of  charity  to  others.    Nor  did  his  benevo- 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         173 

lence  confine  itself  to  simple  alms-deeds,  as  his 
personal  endeavor  in  support  of  public  enterprise 
and  his  zealous  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the 
young  of  the  Orphan  House  and  Grace  Church 
Sunday  School  will  bear  ample  testimony. 

"In  his  charities,  which  were  profuse,  he  was 
systematic  and  consistent;  in  his  labors  earnest 
and  indomitable.  In  all  the  manifold  relation- 
ships of  life,  religious,  social,  and  commercial,  he 
seemed  ever  to  be  actuated  by  a  high  sense  of 
honor  and  the  promptings  of  a  warm,  sympa- 
thetic, and  generous  heart. 

■  "Such  men  never  go  from  us  unwept  and 
unmissed. 

^^  Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  published 
in  the  News  and  Courier  and  a  copy  of  this  action 
of  the  Society  be  spread  upon  the  records  and 
another  fonvarded  to  the  widow  of  the  deceased 
in  testimony  of  the  admiration  and  regard  we 
entertain  for  the  memory  of  her  generous  dead." 

The  News  and  Courier  published  the  follow- 
ing editorial,  April  i,  1880: 

"It  is  not  a  matter  of  form  to  say  that  Mr. 
Van  Nest  Talmage  will  be  sorely  missed  in 
Charleston.  No  call  was  made  upon  him  for  a 
public    or    charitable    purpose    which    was    not 


174  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

cheerfully  and  liberally  responded  to,  and  he  was 
withal  broad  and  progressive  in  his  mercantile 
poUcy,  as  well  as  rigidly  conscientious  and  singu- 
larly farsighted. 

"Mr.  Talmage  changed  the  whole  current  of 
the  rice  business  in  Charleston,  initiating  and 
making  successful  the  system  of  shipping  the 
grain  directly  to  the  Western  consumers,  instead 
of  taking  the  old  way  of  New  York. 

"Only  thirty-five  years  old,  the  nephew  of 
Dr.  DeWitt  Talmage,  full  of  life  and  enterprise, 
he  had  already  made  himself  conspicuous  among 
Charleston  merchants,  and  might  well  hope  to 
have  before  him  a  long  career  of  good  fortune  and 
usefulness.  Incessant  work  caused  the  illness 
which  ended  in  his  untimely  death. 

"Mr.  Talmage  had  more  friends  than  he 
knew.  Charleston  needs  just  such  men  as  he, 
and  it  will  be  hard  to  fill  his  place. 

"The  funeral  services  of  this  estimable  gentle- 
man took  place  at  Grace  Church  yesterday  after- 
noon, the  Reverend  C.  C.  Pinckney,  D.D.,  the 
rector,  officiating.  The  casket  was  covered  with 
floral  offerings.  The  cortege  was  followed  by  the 
New  England  Society  and  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce.     The  seats  on  the  right  of  the  church 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         175 

were  occupied  by  the  children  of  the  Charleston 
Orphan  House,  to  whose  spiritual  culture  Mr. 
Talmage  devoted  a  great  deal  of  his  time.  Those 
on  the  left  were  occupied  by  the  children  of  Grace 
Church  Sunday  School,  of  which  the  deceased  was 
also  an  active  officer.  The  seats  in  the  main  aisle 
were  filled  with  a  large  concourse  of  citizens, 
among  whom  were  many  of  the  most  prominent 
merchants,  lawyers,  and  physicians  in  the  city, 
and  by  a  very  large  concourse  of  ladies." 


JOHN  P.  KENNEDY  BRYAN 

John  P.  Kennedy  Bryan  was  born  in  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  September  10,  1852.  He 
was  the  third  son  of  George  S.  Bryan,  judge  of 
the  United  States  District  Court  for  South 
Carolina,  and  Rebecca  L.  Dwight.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  of  Charleston,  Princeton 
University,  and  the  universities  of  Berhn  and 
Leipzig. 

At  Princeton  he  earned  the  degree  of  A.B.  in 
1873,  graduating  with  first  honor  in  the  class  of 
which  Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke  was  a  member.  He 
was  a  mental  science  Fellow  and  a  student  of 
philosophy  and  law  at  the  University  of  Berlin 


176  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

from  1873  to  1874,  and  a  student  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Leipzig  from  1874  to  1875.  He  returned 
to  Princeton  and  received  the  degree  of  A.M.  in 
1876.  He  studied  law  in  Charleston  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  South  Carolina  in  1877. 

Mr.  Bryan  was  a  member  of  the  constitu- 
tional convention  in  1895  and  was  prominent  and 
influential  in  its  deliberations. 

As  a  lawyer  Mr.  Bryan  had  few  peers  in  the 
South.  "His  practice  was  wide  and  varied, 
including  many  cases  of  great  interest  and  public 
importance.  Soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar, 
he  was  engaged  for  the  defense  in  the  Ku  Klux 
trials,  extending  over  the  period  from  1877  to 
1883.  He  was  counsel  for  the  United  States 
government  in  the  conspiracy  cases,  1 889-1 899, 
and  in  prize  cases  tried  in  the  port  of  Charleston 
during  the  Spanish-American  War.  He  was 
widely  known  as  an  able  and  experienced  admi- 
ralty lawyer.  He  argued  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  the  leading  cases 
which  settled  constitutional  questions  involved 
in  the  Dispensary  Law,  and  did  much  other 
pioneer  work  before  that  court  and  the  courts  of 
the  state."  He  was  a  member  of  the  legal 
advisory    board    during    the    war    between    the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         177 

United  States  of  America  and  the  empires  of 
Germany  and  of  Austria-Hungary. 

Mr.  Bryan  was  deeply  interested  in  education. 
He  served  for  a  number  of  years  as  a  trustee  of  the 
Charleston  High  School,  the  College  of  Charles- 
ton, and  the  University  of  the  South. 

Mr.  Bryan  became  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Society,  December  22,  1898,  and  was 
one  of  its  most  distinguished  and  useful  members. 
His  addresses  on  Forefathers'  Day  were  among 
the  most  eloquent  and  scholarly  ever  delivered 
before  the  Society. 

He  died  suddenly  on  October  25,  191 8,  at  the 
zenith  of  his  power  and  in  the  faithful  discharge 
of  his  duties. 

The  three  tributes  which  follow  are  typical  of 
many  estimates  of  Mr.  Bryan's  useful  career: 

"The  death  of  Kennedy  Bryan  takes  from  the 
world  a  man  of  rare  and  admirable  gifts,  who  used 
them  with  high  fidelity  in  the  service  of  his  God, 
his  friends,  and  his  fellow-men.  His  brilliant 
mind,  his  rich  eloquence,  his  unselfish  patriotism, 
his  devotion  to  duty,  his  warm  and  steadfast  affec- 
tions, his  sincere  and  simple  Christian  character, 
gave  true  nobility  to  his  life  and  vital  charm  to 
his  person. 


178  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"Worthy  of  the  best  traditions  of  his  native 
state,  he  served  her  loyally  and  quietly  without  a 
thought  of  self,  and  well  deserves  her  gratitude. 

"Princeton  University,  his  alma  mater,  cher- 
ishes his  name  as  one  of  her  noblest  sons.  His 
praise  is  fragrant  on  our  lips,  his  memory  is  dear 
to  our  hearts.  His  reward  is  great  and  sure  in  that 
Heavenly  Kingdom  where  he  has  been  welcomed  as 
a  good  and  faithful  servant  whose  ten  talents  were 
consecrated  to  his  Master's  work  and  the  weKare 
of  humanity." — Rev.  Henry  van  Dyke,  D.D. 

"He  was  a  pre-eminently  able  lawyer.  There 
has  been  no  abler  advocate  at  the  bar  of  South 
Carolina  within  the  memory  of  living  lawyers. 
Intellectual  endowments  of  the  highest  order  had 
been  developed  by  a  liberal  education  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  trained  by  long  years  of  experi- 
ence in  a  wide  and  varied  practice. 

"Within  the  circle  of  litigation  he  was  always 
the  warrior,  strong,  courageous,  resourceful,  and 
armed  from  head  to  foot.  He  fought  his  cases  to 
victory  or  defeat.  He  never  compromised,  he 
never  surrendered.  Whenever  he  resumed  pro- 
fessional responsibilities,  he  put  himself  and  all  his 
resources  unreservedly  into  the  cause,  and  with 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         179 

each  case  he  took  infinite  pains.  His  arguments 
to  the  court  were  exhaustive  expositions  of  law, 
and  his  addresses  to  the  jury  were  powerful  pres- 
entations of  fact. 

"He  was  a  pioneer  in  respect  of  the  law  upon 
many  questions  which  have  now  been  settled. 
He  conducted  many  leading  cases.  The  opinion 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  upon 
more  than  one  public  issue  follows  the  lines  of  his 
brief. 

"His  services  were  always  at  the  command  of 
the  bar,  the  city,  the  state  and  country,  and  were 
often  employed. 

"He  sought  and  held  no  public  place  in  the 
profession.  His  death  vacates  no  public  ofhce; 
but  much  more  than  that,  it  is  a  public  loss.  It 
creates  in  our  midst  a  vacancy  which  the  pubHc 
cannot  fill."— WiUiam  C.  MHler. 

"By  the  sudden  death  of  J.  P.  Kennedy  Bryan 
the  community  has  lost  a  brilliant  personality  and 
the  bar  of  the  State  a  member  whose  legal  and 
forensic  abilities  commanded  high  admiration. 
Mr.  Bryan  had  a  rarely  fine  mind,  which  he  had 
cultivated  and  trained  by  study  and  reflection. 
He  had  a  profound  knowledge,  not  onl}^  of  the 


i8o  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

law,  but  of  the  historical  and  philosophical 
foundations  of  the  law.  He  was  a  student  of 
government  and  a  keen  observer  and  analyst  of 
political  and  popular  currents.  He  had  the 
power  of  expression  extraordinarily  developed, 
and  many  of  his  court  house  addresses  might  have 
been  preserved  in  permanent  record,  as  they 
remain  in  the  memory  of  his  hearers  as  almost 
classic  examples  of  persuasive  oratory.  His  inter- 
ests were  wide,  and  his  serv^ices,  especially  in  the 
cause  of  education  and  in  the  exploration  of  con- 
stitutional law,  were  notable.  He  was  intensely 
patriotic,  of  his  country  and  state.  His  social 
graces  were  many;  he  was  an  interesting  and 
charming  companion,  and  the  center  of  a  devoted 
family  circle.  His  swift  passing  is  like  the 
snapping  out  of  a  bright  light." — The  Charleston 
Evening  Post,  October  28,  19 18. 

PERCIVAL  HANAHAN  WHALEY 

Percival  Hanahan  Whaley  was  born  on  Edisto 
Island,  South  Carolina,  May  17,  1853.  He  was 
an  alumnus  of  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut, and  of  the  Berckley  Divinity  School, 
Middletown,  Connecticut.     The  University  of  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         i8i 

South  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  on  account  of  scholarly  research. 

Dr.  Whaley  held  important  charges  in  Con- 
necticut, South  Carolina,  and  Florida.  He  was  a 
clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  church.  He  was  an 
eloquent  preacher,  a  profound  theologian,  and  a 
historian  of  high  rank.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  writing  a  history  of  the  state  of  Florida 
and  a  history  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  South 
Carolina. 

Dr.  Whaley  published  a  number  of  historic 
pamphlets  which  attracted  scholarly  attention. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Society  in  191 1. 

After  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Rochester, 
Minnesota,  September  2,  191 5,  the  Right  Rev- 
erend Wm.  A.  Guerry,  D.D.,  bishop  of  South 
Carolina,  paid  him  the  following  tribute : 

"Percival  Whaley  was  one  of  the  most  lovable 
men  I  have  ever  known,  warm  hearted,  thoughtful 
of  others,  unselfish,  never  sparing  himself  where 
duty  called  or  where  he  could  be  of  service  to  his 
fellow-men;  he  endeared  himself  to  all  who  knew 
him.  Like  the  holy  priest  of  whom  William  Law 
writes  in  his  Serious  Call  to  a  Devout  and  Holy  Life, 
he  was  full  of  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  watching. 


1 82  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

laboring  and  praying  for  his  people.  Every  soul 
in  his  parish  was  as  dear  to  him  as  himself  and  he 
loved  them  all  as  he  loved  himself,  because  he 
prayed  for  them  all  as  often  as  he  prayed  for 
himself. 

"It  was  this  broad-minded  sympathy  and  love 
of  his  fellow-men  that  remained  throughout  his 
life  his  crowning  virtue.  Because  he  loved  and 
trusted  others,  therefore  he  was  without  guile. 
Dr.  Whaley  was  not  only  beloved  by  his  own 
people  but  he  was  in  a  very  real  sense  the  pastor 
of  all  the  people.  He  knew  no  denominational 
lines  in  his  ministry.  Like  the  Lord,  he  went 
among  men  as  one  that  served,  and  never  stopped 
to  ask  if  any  child  of  God  who  was  in  trouble  or 
in  need  of  his  help  was  of  his  flock. 

"At  the  council  of  the  church  Dr.  Whaley, 
upon  my  recommendation,  was  made  histori- 
ographer of  the  diocese,  a  position  for  which  he 
was  eminently  fitted.  For  the  past  six  years  he 
has  been  gathering  material  for  a  history  of  the 
church  in  South  Carolma,  and  I  had  hoped  that 
he  might  be  spared  to  carry  on  and  complete  this 
most  important  work.  I  feel,  however,  that 
what  he  has  already  accomplished  in  the  way  of 
preparation  for  such  a  history  will  be  invaluable 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         183 

for  the  man  who  will  follow  him.  The  whole 
diocese  of  South  Carolina  owes  him  a  debt  of 
gratitude  for  what  he  has  done,  and  it  is  difficult 
at  this  time  to  see  how  his  place  can  be  filled.  In 
viewing  his  life  as  a  whole,  we  are  struck  by  the 
fact  that  it  was  a  full  and  well-rounded  hfe." 

At  the  same  time  one  of  the  leading  news- 
papers of  South  Carolina  published  the  following 
editorial : 

"A  rarely  charming  and  lovable  personality 
passed  in  the  death  of  the  Reverend  Percival  H. 
Whaley.  His  faith  was  real,  his  reason  clear,  and 
his  mind  truly  cultured.  He  was  a  good  friend 
and  a  devoted  pastor.  He  had  understanding  of 
men  and  a  fine  sympathy  for  their  joys  and 
sorrows,  and  he  had  that  vision  of  the  divine 
which  is  neither  fleeting  nor  uncertain,  because  it 
is  not  so  strained  as  to  blind  nor  so  narrow  as  to 
weary  with  its  holding. 

"He  had  a  comprehending  mind,  richly  stored 
with  treasure  of  its  own  searching,  a  fine  appre- 
ciation of  letters,  and  a  facility  of  speech  and 
writing  that  gave  great  charm  to  his  company. 
Perhaps,  best  of  all,  he  had  a  sense  of  proportion. 
He  was  an  admirable  and  a  kindly  type  of  the 
humanist  who  reads  the  story  of  his  kind  equally 


1 84  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

in  ancient  lore  and  living  souls.     An  illumined 
spirit  has  gone  into  the  light." 

OTHER  SONS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

In  addition  to  the  New  Engianders  and 
descendants  of  New  Engianders  who  made  their 
homes  in  Charleston  and  who  became  members 
of  the  New  England  Society,  there  were  many 
others  of  prominence  and  influence.  Among  the 
large  number  a  few  notable  worthies  might  be 
mentioned.  Three  of  the  most  distinguished 
bishops  of  South  CaroHna  were  born  in  New  Eng- 
land—the Right  Reverend  Theodore  Dehon, 
D.D.,  and  the  Right  Reverend  Nathaniel  Bowen, 
D.D.,  were  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and 
the  Right  Reverend  W.  B.  W.  Howe,  D.D.,  was 
born  in  Claremont,  New  Hampshire.  Dr.  Basil 
Lanneau  Gildersleeve,  the  greatest  classical  scholar 
America  has  produced,  was  of  New  England 
stock,  though  born  in  Charleston,  South  CaroUna. 
Dr.  Gildersleeve  was  the  guest  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  at  its  annual  celebration  in  1892, 
and  delivered  a  notable  address  from  which  the 
following  is  quoted : 

"  The  honor  of  being  your  guest  on  this  occasion 
is  an  honor  that  I  prize  most  highly.     It  is  one  of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         185 

the  most  precious  assurances  I  have  ever  received 
that  the  affection  with  which  my  heart  has  always 
turned  toward  my  native  city,  toward  the  home 
of  my  childhood  and  of  my  opening  youth,  is  not 
wasted  affection.  True,  in  one  sense,  there  can 
be  no  such  thing  as  wasted  affection,  for  honest 
love  enriches  the  lover,  but  to  find,  after  all  these 
years  of  absence,  that  the  answering  love  is  still 
there  would  stir  a  duller  heart  than  mine  is,  and  I 
am  happy  as  well  as  proud  to  be  with  you  tonight, 
as  I  have  always  been  proud  and  happy  to  recall 
the  high  traditions  of  that  old  Charleston  to 
which  I  belong,  the  Charleston  that  antedates  the 
flood  of  Civil  War. 

"Among  the  names  that  make  up  the  roll  of 
your  honored  Society,  there  are  not  a  few  that 
bring  back  the  prominent  figures  which  graced 
the  scene  when  I  was  a  boyish  spectator  of  the  life 
of  Charleston,  the  grave  but  gracious  divines,  the 
learned  and  brilliant  lawyers,  the  skilful  and 
beloved  physicians,  the  enterprising  and  liberal 
merchants  of  fifty  years  ago,  none  the  less  true 
Charlestonians  because  they  were  true  New  Eng- 
landers.  To  be  sure,  it  has  been  said  that  the 
reason  why  the  New  Englanders  who  came  to  the 
South  made  such  characteristic  Southerners  is  to 


1 86  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

be  sought  in  the  fact  that  the  chief  of  those  who 
came  were  Southern  in  their  sympathies,  but 
whether  that  is  so  or  not,  they  brought  with  them 
a  heritage  of  noble  traditions,  of  high  purpose,  of 
dauntless  will,  that  formed  a  distinct  addition  to 
the  moral  wealth  of  the  community.  But  I  am 
not  without  bias  in  this  matter.  My  own  lot  has 
made  me  a  typical  Southerner,  and  from  my  first 
conscious  breath  to  this  day  I  have  recognized  the 
debt  of  my  nativity  and  have  wrought  and  suf- 
fered in  my  measure  for  the  land  that  gave  me 
birth.  And  yet,  if  I  were  a  resident  of  Charleston, 
I  should  have  a  right  to  sit  among  you  as  a  mem- 
ber, and  not  merely  as  a  guest,  for,  while  the  soil 
on  which  I  am  standing  is  pecuHarly  hallowed 
ground  to  me,  Vermont  and  Connecticut  hold  the 
graves  of  my  father's  forefathers,  who  in  their  day 
were  rebels,  as  was  their  descendant  in  his.  And 
many  a  typical  Southerner  is  in  my  case.  With 
the  recent  revival  of  interest  in  Revolutionary  and 
Colonial  matters,  there  has  been  much  tracing  of 
genealogical  lines,  and  I  have  been  amazed  to  see 
in  more  than  one  instance  the  revelation  of  New 
England  ancestry  where  New  England  ancestry 
had  never  been  suspected  before — Magnolia  and 
Mayflower  wedded  in  those  far-off  days. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         187 

"  In  the  angry  quarrel  that  parted  the  family  a 
generation  ago,  there  was  much  talk  about  the 
difference  of  race,  and  all  kinship  was  passionately 
disowned,  but  the  common  blood  asserted  itself  in 
that  very  protest — and  if  there  is  no  community 
on  this  side  of  the  water,  the  common  mother  of 
us  all  is  only  a  few  generations  off.  Now  I  am 
very  willing  to  admit  that  I  did  not  always  enter- 
tain these  rational  and  philosophic  views,  and 
when  I  was  asked  to  respond  to  the  toast,  'Our 
Country,'  I  was  a  little  puzzled  to  know  why  I,  a 
narrow  provincial,  should  have  been  selected  to 
treat  so  wide  a  theme,  and  I  felt  at  first  a  sense  of 
unfitness  that  was  somewhat  embarrassing.  But 
despite  the  modesty  that  I  possess  and  have 
acquired  by  practice,  I  began  to  understand  that 
I  was  eminently  qualified  for  the  function  to 
which  I  was  called,  and  the  toastmaster  knew 
that  if  he  gave  me  any  sentiment  involving  an 
allusion  to  Old  Charleston,  I  should  ramble  on 
till  midnight,  remembering  and  remembering 
more  than  I  ever  knew  and  more  than  anybody 
could  contradict,  and  so  he  assigned  to  me  a 
theme  which  he  must  have  known  I  had  studied 
under  circumstances  that  were  wtU  calculated  to 
clarify  my  views." 


1 88  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 


THE  VISIT  OF  DANIEL  WEBSTER 

The  Honorable  Daniel  Webster,  the  great 
orator,  diplomat,  and  statesman,  the  pride  of  all 
New  England,  visited  Charleston  during  the 
month  of  May,  1847.  The  New  England  Society 
gave  a  dinner  in  honor  of  the  great  American  on 
the  afternoon  of  May  8. 

The  data  used  in  telling  the  story  of  this 
auspicious  event  are  drawn  largely  from  an  article 
written  at  the  time  by  Mr.  A.  S.  Willington,  the 
distinguished  editor  of  the  Courier  and  vice- 
president  of  the  New  England  Society.  The 
entertainment  tendered  Mr.  Webster  was  held 
in  St.  Andrew's  Hall. 

"The  spacious  chamber  where  the  North 
Briton  is  wont  to  celebrate  festive  and  hospitable 
rites,  under  the  smiles  of  his  patron  saint,  was 
beautifully,  tastefully,  and  appropriately  deco- 
rated for  the  occasion,  the  use  of  their  magnificent 
and  commodious  hall  having  been  generously 
and  gratuitously  tendered  for  the  purpose  by 
vote  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Society.  At  the  head 
of  the  table,  immediately  behind  the  presiding 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         189 

officer,  and  in  front  of  a  large  and  splendid  mirror 
reflecting  the  whole  festive  scene,  stood  a  minia- 
ture and  mimic  representation  of  the  Bunker  Hill 
monument — a  column  made  of  roses  and  a  rich 
variety  of  other  beautiful  flowers,  presented  by  a 
member  of  the  Society,  having  been  erected  with 
floral  treasures  culled  from  his  own  magnificent 
flower  garden  on  Charleston  Neck — from  the  top 
of  which  floated  a  little  streamer  with  the  inscrip- 
tion 'Bunker  Hill.'  The  other  inscriptions  on 
appropriate  and  decorated  fields  were :  '  Welcome, 
Thrice  Welcome,  Bright  Star  of  the  East,'  'Our 
Country,  Our  Whole  Country,  and  Nothing  but 
Our  Country,'  'Ashburton  Treaty,  Signed  at 
Washington,  August  9,  1842.' 

"In  the  lamented  absence  through  indisposi- 
tion of  Doddridge  Crocker,  Esq.,  the  venerable 
president  of  the  Society,  A.  S.  Willington,  Esq., 
vice-president,  presided,  assisted  by  the  Honorable 
William  Rice,  recorder  of  the  city  and  judge  of 
the  City  Court  of  Charleston,  Colonel  B.  F.  Hunt, 
Colonel  J.  H.  Taylor,  and  E.  M.  Beach,  Esq.  A 
number  of  distinguished  guests  were  present. 
Among  them  were  the  Honorable  John  B.  O'Neall, 
one  of  the  superior  lord  judges  of  the  state;  the 
Honorable  R.  B.  Gilchrist,  judge  of  the  United 


I  go  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

States  Court  for  the  District  of  South  Carohna, 
the  Honorable  James  Hamilton,  formerly  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  Beaufort  and  Colleton,  and 
former  governor  of  the  state;  the  Honorable 
William  Aiken,  former  governor  of  the  state;  the 
Honorable  R.  B.  Rhett,  member  of  Congress  from 
Barnwell,  Beaufort,  and  Colleton  districts;  the 
Honorable  I.  E.  Holmes,  member  of  Congress 
from  Charleston  district;  the  Honorable  F.  H. 
Elmore,  former  member  of  Congress  from  Rich- 
land and  other  districts  and  president  of  the 
Bank  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina;  and  the 
Right  Reverend  Ignatius  Aloysius  Reynolds, 
Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Charleston;  the  Honor- 
able W.  J.  Grayson,  former  member  of  Congress 
from  Beaufort  and  Colleton  districts  and  now 
United  States  collector  of  the  port  of  Charleston; 
the  Honorable  T.  L.  Hutchinson,  mayor  of  the 
city  of  Charleston;  Henry  Bailey,  Esq.,  attorney- 
general  of  the  state;  James  L.  Petigru,  Esq.; 
M.  Hall  McAllister,  of  Savannah,  Georgia; 
Colonel  Thomas  N.  Dawkins,  one  of  the  state 
solicitors;  William  P.  Finley,  Esq.,  president  of 
the  College  of  Charleston;  Daniel  Ravenel,  Esq., 
president  of  the  Charleston  Bible  Society,  and 
others.     The  scene  was  not  only  social  and  festive 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         191 

in  the  highest  degree  but  at  once  dignified  by 
lofty  and  thrilling  eloquence;  affecting  from  the 
expression  of  generous  sentiment  and  fraternal 
feeling,  and  enlivened  with  rare  humor  and 
sparkling  wit;  and  further  animated  and  cheered 
with  music,  both  instrumental  and  vocal,  from  a 
band  of  skilful  performers  and  from  many  and 
rich-toned  voices  mingling  in  concert  and  sweet 
concord  with  the  soft  notes  of  the  piano.  It  was 
indeed  a  beautiful  and  grateful  spectacle  to  witness 
the  happy  union  of  the  generous  sons  of  New  Eng- 
land and  their  descendants,  worthy  sons  of  noble 
sires,  with  the  warm-hearted  children  of  the 
sunny  South,  in  doing  homage  and  honor  to  the 
genius,  services,  and  worth  of  the  great  statesman 
of  New  England,  the  eminent  diplomatist  of  the 
Republic,  the  'conquerer  of  an  honorable  peace,' 
the  illustrious  and  honored  elder  brother  of  our 
great  American  and  republican  family.  The  dis- 
tinguished guest  was  himself  in  the  highest  spirits 
and  he  diffused  the  happy,  generous  contagion  to 
all  around  and  manifested  by  his  noble  and  crystal 
flow  of  eloquence  and  feeling  and  his  fine  play  of 
keen  or  gentle  humor  that  his  heart  was  in  the 
gladsome  scene  and  that  the  delight,  of  which  he 
was  the  fountain  and  infinite  source  to  others. 


192  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

was  reflected  back  in  a  copious  and  refreshing 
tide  to  his  own  bosom.  While  gazing  on  his  noble 
form,  his  colossal  proportions,  and  intellectual 
brow — almost  a  giant  in  body  and  quite  a  Titan 
in  mind — wq  could  not  forbear  the  mental 
exclamation : 

A  combination  and  a  form  indeed, 
Where  every  God  did  seem  to  set  his  seal, 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man, 

"After  the  luxuries  of  the  feast,  the  cloth  was 
removed  for  toast,  speech,  sentiment,  and  song." 

Mr.  Willington  proposed  as  the  principal  toast 
of  the  occasion: 

"South  Carolina  and  Massachusetts:  We 
rejoice  upon  the  occasion  which  assembles  together 
their  distinguished  men  around  the  same  festive 
board." 

The  eloquent  responses  followed.  Benjamin 
Faneuil  Hunt,  Esq.,  spoke  as  follows: 

"Mr.  President:  As  our  Society  dispenses 
with  the  usual  formalities  of  a  set  occasion  and  is 
determined  to  receive  our  guest  as  an  old  family 
friend  and  connection  whom  we  have  found  jour- 
neying through  the  land  of  our  adoption,  I  shall 
take  leave  to  invite  your  attention  to  a  few 
observations,  after  which  I  shall  propose  a  toast. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         193 

"Our  experience  authorizes  us  to  assure  him 
that  he  will  return  to  his  own  New  England  farm 
more  attached  than  ever  to  that  Constitution 
which,  we  trust,  is  destined  through  all  time  to 
come  to  bind  together  all  parts  of  our  country  in 
one  great  and  glorious  Republic,  each  state 
governing  its  own  internal  affairs,  which  practical 
experience  enables  it  to  do  wisely,  while  the 
Federal  government  is  left  free  to  manage  our 
national  concerns. 

"We  hail  with  pleasure  the  interchange  of 
unofficial  and  social  intercourse  by  the  statesmen 
of  the  different  quarters  of  the  country.  It  can- 
not fail  to  wear  away  that  distrust  which  is  prone 
to  render  strangers  distant  and  suspicious  and,  I 
may  add,  selfish  in  their  conduct  of  affairs. 

"We  believe  that  the  more  Americans  see  and 
know  of  each  other  at  home,  the  more  easily  will 
they  be  convinced  that,  although  their  internal 
arrangements  may  differ,  all  can  join  in  a  cordial 
and  hearty  union  as  one  great  people — a  mutual 
respect,  reciprocal  benefit,  and  social  intercourse 
will  every  day  diminish  those  causes  of  difference 
that  sometimes  mar  the  harmony  of  our  councils. 
Each  state  will  thus  respect  and  regard  the  insti- 
tutions and  social  arrangements  of  every  other 


194  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

and  all  combine  to  elevate  and  extend  the  honor 
and  interest  of  our  only  Republic  which  in  art  and 
in  arms  maintains  a  proud  equality  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

"No  states  have  more  reason  to  entertain  the 
most  cordial  relations  than  South  Carolina  and 
Massachusetts.  When  the  port  of  Boston  was 
shut  and  the  stubborn  spirit  of  her  people  rebuked 
and  controlled  by  foreigners,  South  Carolina,  dis- 
tant as  she  was  from  the  scene  of  wrong  and  not 
necessarily  included  in  its  immediate  effect,  dis- 
dained to  profit  by  the  sufferings  of  a  sister-colony 
but  promptly  made  common  cause  with  the  Bay 
State  and  resolved  to  cheer  her  spirits  and  share 
her  fortunes. 

"The  scenes  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill 
soon  roused  her  kindred  spirit  into  action — the 
military  stores  and  forts  were  seized — South 
Carolina  became  a  rebel  colony  and  a  British  fleet 
entered  Charleston  harbor.  If  the  sons  of  the 
Pilgrims  fired  the  first  morning  gun  of  freedom's 
glorious  day.  Fort  Moultrie  thundered  forth  a 
gallant  response  and  rendered  immortal  the  ever- 
green Palmetto.  The  oppressor  was  taught  that 
the  good  old  thirteen,  when  right  and  Hberty  were 
at  stake,  were  animated  with  one  spirit,  were  true 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         195 

to  their  kindred  blood.  The  sons  of  the  wanderers 
of  the  Mayflower  united  with  the  descendant  of 
the  Huguenot  in  a  firm  phalanx  and  stood  shoulder 
to  shoulder  during  the  dark  and  stormy  days  of 
the  Revolution.  Is  it  not  fitting,  then,  that  their 
posterity  should  hand  down  to  unborn  ages,  un- 
impaired, that  fraternal  kindness  which  was  born 
of  a  common  conflict  and  a  common  triumph  ? 

"Fortune  resolved  to  leave  out  no  element 
essential  to  a  perpetual  and  friendly  union  of  the 
North  and  the  South.  The  generous  and  high- 
souled  chivalry  that  led  South  Carolina  without 
hesitation  to  peril  her  own  existence  in  a  com- 
bined opposition  to  the  oppression  by  which  the 
legislation  of  the  mother-country  was  seeking  to 
humble  and  crush  forever  the  unyielding  spirit  of 
New  England  was  never  to  be  forgotten;  and 
when  overwhelming  military  power  had  laid  pros- 
trate the  fortunes  of  the  South  and  held  her 
gallant  spirits  bound  in  inaction,  in  this  dark 
hour  of  her  fate  the  military  spirit  of  a  New 
England  mechanic  conceived  the  project  to  res- 
cue the  South  at  every  hazard,  and  gave  pledge 
to  Washington  to  do  so  or  perish  in  the  effort. 

"Perilous  as  was  the  attempt,  the  commander- 
in-chief  resolved  to  indulge  the  aspirations  of  his 


196  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

favorite  general;  and  after  a  march  which  might 
be  tracked  by  the  bloody  footsteps  of  his  barefoot 
and  almost  naked  followers,  the  troops  of  Greene 
were  united  with  the  followers  of  Sumter  and 
Marion.  Every  gallant  warrior  of  the  South 
started  at  the  beat  of  the  drum  and  the  blast  of 
the  clarion  of  the  North.  Conflict  followed  con- 
flict until,  one  by  one,  every  post  of  the  enemy 
from  Ninety-Six  to  Charleston  fell  before  their 
united  valor.  The  tide  of  war  was  rolled  back 
until  at  Yorktown  the  sword  of  the  proud  Corn- 
wallis  was  delivered  to  another  son  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  Lincoln  was  accorded  a  noble  retribu- 
tion for  his  gallant  but  unsuccessful  defense  of 
Charleston  during  its  protracted  siege. 

"Every  battlefield  of  our  state  contains 
beneath  its  sod  the  bones  of  New  England  men 
who  fell  in  the  defense  of  the  South.  Is  it  not 
right  that  the  land,  won  by  the  united  energies 
and  sprinkled  with  the  common  blood  of  both, 
should  remain  forever  one  heritage — where  the 
descendants  of  those  who  made  it  freedom's 
sacred  soil  may  recognize,  in  its  whole  length  and 
breadth,  'their  ovv-n,  their  native  land,'  the  land 
their  fathers  held  by  the  glorious  title  of  the 
sword  ? 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         197 

"  It  is  in  this  feeling  that  we  hold  every  son  of 
the  South  entitled  to  a  home  and  welcome  among 
the  green  hills  and  pure  streams  of  New  England. 

"The  North  and  the  South  are  but  apartments 
in  the  house  of  our  fathers,  and  long,  long  may 
their  inmates  live  in  harmony  together  in  the 
ennobUng  relations  of  children  of  the  common 
conquerors  of  a  common  country." 

To  Mr.  Webster: 

"You,  sir,  for  the  first  time,  look  upon  that 
sunny  side  of  the  national  domain  where  we 
have  planted  our  habitations  and  garnered  up 
our  hearts;  here  are  our  homes  and  our  altars; 
here  is  the  field  of  our  labors;  here  are  the  laws 
and  institutions  which  protect  us;  here,  too,  is  to 
many  the  birthplace  of  their  children  and  their 
own  destined  graves;  here  our  first  allegiance  is 
due,  which  we  feel  is  in  all  things  consistent  with 
fidelity  to  the  great  Republic  of  which  our  state 
is  an  integral  portion.  Neither  have  we  forgotten 
the  happy  days  of  early  life,  those  well-loved 
scenes  of '  our  childhood's  home ' !  Fidelity  to  the 
land  of  our  adoption  finds  no  guaranty  in  a 
renegade  desertion  of  that  of  our  birth;  but  we 
turn,  with  feelings  of  cherished  veneration,  to 
where  our  Pilgrim  Fathers  in  sorrow  and  privation 


198  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

laid  the  deep  foundations  of  a  new  empire  based 
on  the  eternal  principles  of  civil  and  reUgious 
liberty,  and  sustained  by  a  general  education  and 
by  public  and  private  virtue.  We  hallow  their 
memories  and  tread  with  reverence  on  their  graves. 
Our  filial  piety  is  not  abated  by  distance,  and  we 
hail  the  coming  among  us  of  a  worthy  son  of  New 
England  as  a  messenger  from  our  fatherland. 

"We  recognize  in  you  one  who  has  exhibited 
the  influence  of  her  institutions  in  a  resplendent 
light.  The  son  of  a  New  England  farmer,  the 
pupil  of  the  free  schools  and  college  of  your  native 
state,  your  own  energies  have  placed  you  on  an 
elevation  at  the  bar,  in  the  Senate,  and  in  the 
Cabinet,  where  the  civihzed  world  can  behold  an 
orator,  a  jurist,  and  a  statesman,  who  bears  no 
adventitious  title  and  yet  is  known  and  recognized 
by  nature's  own  stamp  of  greatness. 

"As  a  diplomatist,  you  have  secured  peace 
without  any  sacrifice  of  national  honor,  and  may 
wear  your  civic  crown  as  proudly  as  the  victori- 
ous soldier  does  his  plume.  We  shall  record  your 
visit  in  our  archives  as  a  part  of  our  annals,  and 
the  recollection  of  it  will  always  be  among  the 
most  acceptable  reminiscences  in  the  history  of 
our  Society. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        199 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen,  I  offer  a 
toast : 

"Our  Guest:  He  has  a  heart  big  enough  to 
comprehend  his  whole  country,  a  head  wise 
enough  to  discern  her  best  interests.  We  cheer 
him  on  his  way  to  view  her  in  all  her  various 
aspects,  well  assured  that  the  more  he  sees  of  her, 
the  better  he  will  like  her." 

Mr.  Webster  said,  in  substance,  he  was  bound 
to  say  a  few  words  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
numerous  kind  things  which  had  just  been  said 
of  him,  and  the  kind  manner  in  which  they  had 
been  received.  In  answer  to  the  testimonials  of 
respect  and  the  high  compliments  so  eloquently 
paid  him  by  his  New  England  friend,  he  must  be 
permitted  to  say  that  it  was  to  him  a  high  source  of 
gratification  to  find  himself  in  the  city  of  Charles- 
ton— the  long  renowned  and  hospitable  city  of  the 
South — among  those  whom  he  regarded  as  fellow- 
countrymen  and  who  regarded  him  as  a  fellow- 
countryman.  The  marks  of  respect  and  affection 
thus  tendered  him  had  penetrated  his  heart  with 
the  most  grateful  emotions.  Colonel  Hunt  had 
been  pleased,  with  great  propriety  and  elegance, 
to  refer  to  that  great  instrument  of  government, 
the  Constitution,  and  to  speak  of  it  in  terms 


200  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

habitual  to  and  expressive  of  the  sentiment  of  all 
American  bosoms.  Whatever  difference  of  opin- 
ion might  exist  with  regard  to  some  of  its  purposes, 
all  agreed  that  it  was  the  basis  of  our  liberty,  the 
cement  of  our  union,  and  the  source  of  our  national 
prosperity  and  renown.  True,  the  cardinal  prin- 
ciple of  that  instrument  and  the  interpretation  of 
some  of  its  provisions  had,  at  times,  led  to  agitating 
discussions  and  dangerous  excitement,  but  all  was 
now  calm  and  repose,  and  be 

All  the  clouds  which  lowered  o'er  our  house 
In  the  deep  bosom  of  the  ocean  buried. 

Mr.  Webster  said  that  he  took  great  pleasure 
in  making  the  mse  choice  that  the  sons  of  New 
England  around  him  had  made  in  coming  to  this 
state.  He  trusted  they  were  not  very  badly  off 
at  home,  and  they  appeared  to  be  exceedingly 
comfortable  here.     Since 

The  Winter's  torrent  and  the  mountain's  roar 
Did  not  bind  them  to  their  native  mountains  more, 

they  had  not  only  acted  wisely  in  coming  hither 
but  he  really  thought  they  could  not  have  done 
better. 

Where  on  this  continent,  he  asked,  was  there 
a  higher  freedom  of  social  enjoyment  or  a  more 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         201 

ready  extension  of  the  relations  of  private  friend- 
ship and  the  courtesies  of  refined  society  than  in 
this  city  and  state;  and  he  could  not  forbear  a 
tribute  to  the  intelligence,  enterprise,  and  hospi- 
tality of  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  where  the  exiled 
and  the  oppressed  of  the  earth  and  the  victims  of 
rehgious  persecution — the  Huguenot  as  well  as  the 
Pilgrim — had  ever  found  a  sanctuary  and  a  home; 
whither,  as  the  name  of  this  Hall  instructed  us, 
the  enterprising  North  British  merchant  hied  in 
the  prosecution  of  business  and  for  convivial 
enjoyment,  and  where  that  other  people,  the  hap- 
less sons  of  Ireland,  in  our  day  the  subjects  of  so 
much  suffering  and  to  whose  relief  the  whole  of 
our  land,  both  North  and  South,  was  now  hasten- 
ing with  one  heart  and  one  purse,  had  also  gathered 
as  the  home  of  the  oppressed. 

Colonel  Hunt,  said  Mr.  Webster,  had  been 
pleased,  in  referring  to  his  public  services,  to  dis- 
course of  the  agency  he  had  exercised  on  questions 
connected  with  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of 
the  earth.  Our  true  national  poUcy  w^as  a  poHcy 
of  peace.  He  had  not  felt  for  many  years  that  it 
was  at  all  necessary  for  us  to  display  any  more 
prowess  in  arms  to  secure  us  an  enduring  national 
renown;   there  was  no  danger  that  we  should  be 


202  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

underrated  in  the  scale  of  nations  by  any  defect 
in  this  particular.  With  these  views  he  had,  in 
his  public  course,  directed  his  best  efforts  to  pro- 
mote the  peace  of  the  world  as  best  for  the  honor 
and  prosperity  of  our  land  and  in  closest  con- 
formity with  the  benign  precepts  of  Christianity 
and  the  humane  spirit  of  modern  civilization. 

He  said  he  could  bear  testimony  to  the  able 
and  honorable  bearings  of  the  distinguished  sons 
of  South  Carolina  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
On  all  the  great  questions  of  peace  and  war,  and 
other  questions  of  national  interest  that  had  been 
discussed  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  they  had  been 
arrayed  on  the  side  of  the  country,  and  a  debt  of 
gratitude  was  their  due. 

He  descanted  on  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  free  intercourse  between  the  inhabitants  of 
the  various  sections  of  the  Union  and  on  the 
importance  of  mutual  travel  to  enable  us  to  see 
and  know  more  of  one  another,  and  said  that  the 
more  we  saw  and  knew  of  each  other,  the  higher 
would  be  our  mutual  appreciation,  the  greater 
would  be  our  deference  for  each  other's  judgments 
and  opinions,  and  that,  by  cultivating  mutual 
feelings  of  kindness  and  courtesy,  the  stronger 
would  be  our  ties  of  fraternal  peace  and  concord, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         203 

the  stronger  the  great  bond  of  union  which  bound 
us  together  as  United  States.  He  added  that 
these  reasons  were  especially  applicable  in  this 
era  of  developments  so  favorable  to  transportation 
and  conveyance,  in  which  distance  was  now  less 
measured  by  space  than  time. 

Nobody,  he  added,  would  expect  a  speech  from 
him  at  this  social  board — ^he  had  enough  of 
speeches  elsewhere — and  it  would  be,  in  his  judg- 
ment, to  profane  the  occasion  were  he  to  inflict 
on  the  company  a  set  discourse.  Enough  had 
been  already  said,  and  it  only  remained  for  him 
to  tender  his  most  earnest  and  cordial  good  wishes 
for  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  citizens  of 
Charleston  and  the  people  of  South  Carolina. 

Mr.  Webster  concluded  with  the  following  toast : 

"The  People  of  South  Carolina:  Distinguished 
for  their  hospitality  and  high  social  virtues  as 
much  as  for  the  great  names  which,  in  past  times 
and  also  in  later  times,  they  have  given  to  the 
public  service  of  the  country." 

Later  in  the  evening  Mr.  Webster  proposed  a 
toast  to 

"The  Memory  of  Robert  Y.  Hayne:  A  gentle- 
man of  courteous  and  pohshed  manners,  of  irre- 
proachable   life,    a    lawyer    of    distinction    and 


204  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

eminence,  a  statesman  of  ability  and  talent,  a 
highly  favored  son  of  his  native  state." 

Another  was  proposed  to 

"Charleston:  Our  Adopted  Home.  Honored 
in  the  recollections  and  associations  of  the  past 
and  present,  she  ever  delights  to  honor  genius, 
talent,  and  worth." 

Henry  Bailey,  Esq.,  being  called  for,  said  that 
in  the  absence  of  the  excellent  and  accomplished 
chief  magistrate  of  the  city,  who  had  been  sud- 
denly called  away  from  this  assemblage  by  indis- 
position he  had  yielded  to  the  request  of  some 
of  his  friends  to  undertake  the  grateful  duty  of 
responding  to  the  sentiment  which  had  just  been 
uttered.  He  could  not  promise  to  perform  it  so 
gracefully  as  the  gentleman  on  whom  it  would 
more  appropriately  have  devolved,  but  he  would 
yield  to  no  one  in  the  feelings  of  grateful  pride 
which  the  sentiment  itself  and  the  cordial  manner 
in  which  it  had  been  received  were  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  excite.  As  a  native  of  Charleston,  he 
could  not  but  feel  an  honorable  pride  at  her  being 
supposed  to  merit  the  high  compliment  which  had 
been  expressed;  and  whether  it  were  well  merited 
or  not,  the  kindness  which  dictated  it  could  not 
fail  to  inspire  a  sentiment  of  profound  gratitude 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         205 

for  its  expression.  He  therefore  begged  leave  to 
return  his  sincere  and  hearty  thanks  for  the 
honor  which  had  been  conferred  on  what  was  to 
him  the  home  of  his  birth  no  less  than  of  his 
affection. 

Charleston  has  ever  delighted,  Mr.  Bailey  con- 
tinued, to  do  honor  to  genius,  talent,  and  worth; 
but  however  honorable  this  was  to  the  character 
of  her  citizens,  it  was  no  less  the  dictate  of  a 
sagacious  policy  than  of  a  generous  appreciation 
of  whatever  was  noble  and  meritorious.  It  was 
akin  to  that  wise  poHcy  which,  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  city,  had  opened  wide  the  doors  of 
hospitality  to  the  stranger  and  offered  a  home  to 
the  wanderer.  By  this  means  our  numbers  had 
been  enlarged  and  our  wealth  and  resources 
greatly  increased.  Charleston  indeed  owed  much 
to  her  adopted  citizens,  and  he  might  take  this 
occasion  to  say  that  to  none  was  she  more  indebted 
than  to  those  who  came  from  the  granite  hills  of 
New  England.  Our  distinguished  guest  had  re- 
marked that  in  looking  around  this  festive  board 
and  observing  the  large  number  of  New  England 
men  who  had  here  found  a  happy  home,  the  first 
impression  made  upon  his  mind  was  that  they 
were  a  very  happy  set  of  men;  he  begged  leave  to 


206  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

add  that  they  were  not  more  fortunate  in  finding 
a  happy  home  here  than  Charleston  was  in  the 
acquisition  of  so  large  a  number  of  valuable 
citizens.  It  was  not  merely  that  their  energy, 
enterprise,  ability,  and  integrity  contributed  so 
much  to  the  development  of  our  resources  and  so 
greatly  increased  our  stock  of  material,  moral, 
and  intellectual  wealth,  but  there  was  something 
in  the  New  England  character  that  diffused  itself 
wherever  her  sons  planted  their  feet  and  stamped 
upon  everything  around  them  all  the  best  charac- 
teristics of  civilization.  They  were,  in  fact,  the 
descendants  and  representatives  of  perhaps  the 
best  and  noblest  specimen  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race — a  band  of  men  nurtured  by  religious  perse- 
cution and  the  severest  sufferings  into  a  hardy 
independence;  and  who,  while  they  scorned  sub- 
mission to  tyranny  of  any  sort,  civil  or  religious, 
suffered  no  obstacles  or  difficulties  to  restrain  their 
energy  and  enterprise. 

They  were  the  first  to  discern  the  true  prin- 
ciples of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the 
principles  which  they  discovered  have  been  nobly 
carried  out  by  their  descendants  on  this  continent. 
The  world  owes  to  these  men  a  debt  which  has 
not  yet  been  paid  or  acknowledged;  but  we,  and 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         207 

through  us  the  rest  of  mankind,  are  now  reaping 
the  rich  fruits  of  their  labors.  Their  spirit  has 
pervaded  our  land  and  given  character  to  our 
institutions;  and  it  is  destined  to  carry  to  all 
parts  of  this  continent  a  more  beneficent  civiliza- 
tion than  the  world  has  heretofore  witnessed. 
Our  Western  wilderness  is  fast  filling  up,  and 
wherever  our  people  go  they  carry  with  them  the 
Bible  in  one  hand  and  the  institutions  of  freedom 
which  they  owe  to  the  old  independents,  in  the 
other;  and  the  result  points  to  a  destiny,  the  most 
glorious  ever  achieved  by  any  country  under  the 
sun.  In  conclusion,  Mr.  Bailey  offered  the  follow- 
ing sentiment: 

"The  Land  of  the  Pilgrims:  The  cradle  of  the 
true  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty — the 
abode  of  all  the  sterner  virtues  that  give  dignity 
to  humanity." 

The  health  of  "James  L.  Petigru,  Esq.,  the 
able  jurist,  the  accomplished  advocate,  the  pride 
of  our  bar,  and  one  of  the  dearest  sons  of  South 
Carolina,"  was  proposed.  This  toast  was  received 
with  enthusiastic  cheers  and  drew  from  Mr.  Peti- 
gru the  following  response : 

Mr.  Petigru  said  that  he  would  be  over- 
whelmed by  the  consciousness  of  unmerited  praise 


2o8  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

and  covered  with  confusion  if  he  were  obhged  to 
take  into  view  the  great  disparity,  the  immense 
difference  between  his  moderate  pretensions,  and 
the  terms  in  which  his  honorable  friend  near  him 
had  ushered  in  his  name.  But  he  was  reUeved 
from  much  of  this  embarrassment  because  the 
flattering  demonstrations  with  which  his  name 
had  been  received  were  properly  a  compliment  to 
their  illustrious  guest  and  showed  the  degree  in 
which  they  honored  him  by  the  ''applause  bestowed 
on  me,  not  as  an  individual,  but  as  a  pupil  and 
follower"  of  the  school  in  which  he,  their  guest,  was 
a  master  and  a  leader.  Although  it  was  true  that 
he  could  not  boast  one  drop  of  English  or  New 
England  blood,  he  was  never  less  among  strangers 
than  when  surrounded  by  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims. 
And  it  appeared  to  him  that  the  history  and  char- 
acter of  New  England  had  something  that  came 
home  to  the  mind  of  everyone  who  sympathized 
with  the  progress  of  the  hurnan  race,  as  a  bond 
of  interest  and  affectionate  concern.  It  was  in  the 
New  England  communities,  for  the  first  time  in 
modern  ages,  that  feudalism  was  altogether 
rejected  and  society  was  organized  on  principles 
such  as  good  and  wise  men  had  taught  in  moral 
and  religious  discourse,  but  which  the  wisest  and 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         209 

best  of  them  had  rather  wished  than  hoped  to  see 
in  practice.  The  principles  of  social  order  exem- 
pHfied  in  the  New  England  commonwealth  were 
intimately  connected  with  the  progress  of  modern 
civilization,  and  it  was  unnecessary  to  follow  the 
course  of  their  development  in  the  vast  prosperity 
which  those  commonwealths  had  attained,  and  in 
the  influence  of  their  example  on  neighboring 
states  and  our  distant  people.  But  among  the 
courses  of  their  great  success,  perhaps  the  most 
prevalent  was  found  in  their  steady  attachment 
to  the  rules  of  civil  right  and  invariable  obedience 
to  the  authority  of  the  laws.  This  rendered  them 
the  most  conservative,  as  their  institutions 
rendered  them  the  most  liberal,  of  men  on  the 
subject  of  government.  Great  must  be  the 
merits  that  would  raise  an  individual  to  the  first 
place,  where  all  are  pre-eminent.  It  was  the 
poUcy  of  states  to  cherish  their  great  men,  and 
particularly  those  who  surpassed  their  contem- 
poraries in  those  very  branches  in  which  they  all 
excel.  To  such  a  name  he  wished  to  invoke  their 
attention.  He  begged  leave  to  call  to  their  minds : 
"The  Memory  of  Joseph  Storey:  \\Tio,  by  his 
contributions  to  the  studv  of  that  science  which 


2IO  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

teaches  and  secures  the  rights  of  men  and  is  there- 
fore far  more  intimately  than  all  others  connected 
with  the  welfare  of  society,  deserved  to  be  remem- 
bered as  an  honor  to  his  country  and  a  benefactor 
of  the  human  race." 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         211 


THE  CIVIL  WAR 

Mr.  MelviUe  E.  Stone,  general  manager  of  the 
Associated  Press,  was  the  orator  at  the  annual 
festival  of  the  New  England  Society,  Decem- 
ber 22,  1908.  Mr.  Stone's  address  was  of  a  reli- 
gious character  and  made  a  profound  impression 
upon  his  auditors.  After  returning  to  New  York, 
he  said  to  a  group  of  friends: 

"I  was  very  greatly  impressed  with  the  unique 
character  of  the  New  England  Society  at  Charles- 
ton, and  it  certainly  impressed  me  as  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  organizations  in  America,  in 
that  it  lived  through  the  Civil  War  and  main- 
tained its  high  reputation  throughout,  although 
located  in  the  very  birthplace  of  secession." 

There  were  a  number  of  New  England  societies 
in  the  South  prior  to  the  Civil  War,  but  only  one 
survived  that  unfortunate  conflict,  namely,  the 
New  England  Society  of  Charleston. 

In  a  study  of  the  New  England  Society  in  its 
relations  to  the  Civil  War  period,  it  is  necessary 
to  observe  three  distinct  points :  First,  the  senti- 
ment  and   opinion   of   the   New   Englanders   in 


212  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Charleston  prior  to  i860.  Secondly,  their  actions 
from  i860  to  1865.  Thirdly,  their  conduct  in  the 
trying  period  of  reconstruction  that  followed  the 
downfall  of  Confederacy. 

In  considering  these  three  lines  of  suggestion, 
it  is  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  let  the  members  of 
the  Society  speak  for  themselves.  It  has  been  the 
custom  of  New  Englanders  for  three  hundred  years 
to  express  their  own  opinions  in  their  own  fearless 
and  inimitable  way. 

THE  SENTIMENT  AND  OPINION  LEADING  UP  TO  THE 
CLIMACTERIC   YEAR    i860 

The  first  speaker  to  be  introduced  is  the  elo- 
quent and  fervent  orator,  Colonel  B.  F.  Hunt. 
This  address  was  Colonel  Hunt's  valedictory 
before  the  Society,  delivered  just  prior  to  his 
death,  in  1854: 

"Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen:  The  event 
we  this  day  commemorate  marked  an  era  in 
human  affairs  without  example  and  eminently 
providential.  The  seed  sown  by  the  Mayflower 
has  spread  far  and  -wide  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
this  great  Republic.  The  offspring  of  a  Httle 
band  of  Christians  and  Republicans  have  carried 
mth   them  the  language,  the  religion,  and  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         213 

habits  of  self-government  of  their  fathers  to  every 
quarter  of  this  country;  untrammeled  by  any 
state  religion,  without  privileged  orders,  hereditary 
rulers,  or  mercenary  guards,  they  have  contributed 
to  found  a  new  world  powerful  for  protection 
against  foreign  enemies  and  securing  the  blessings 
of  individual  liberty.  They  have  aided  in  solving 
the  great  problem  of  man's  capacity  for  self- 
government,  when  education,  industry,  and  reli- 
gion constitute  the  basis  of  national  character. 
In  every  region  they  have  penetrated,  they  have 
united  with  the  native  and  adopted  citizen  in 
working  out  this  great  truth,  and  founded  their 
dweUing-places  in  the  full  resolve  to  surround 
them  with  all  the  immunities  of  home.  The 
revolution  which  secured  our  national  existence 
being  the  result  of  the  united  toils  and  the  mingled 
blood  of  every  patriot,  our  whole  liberated  conti- 
nent became  a  common  domain,  held  by  the  indis- 
putable right  of  common  conquest,  and  the  same 
generations  of  men  put  the  finishing  stroke  to 
their  labors  by  the  adoption  of  that  Constitution 
which,  protecting  the  domestic  rights  of  the 
separate  states,  unites  the  whole  into  one  great 
empire  for  national  purposes,  without  any  claim 
to  control  the  institutions  of  the  separate  states. 


214  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

This  contract  our  fathers  made;  under  it  our 
country  has  flourished  beyond  the  most  sanguine 
expectations  of  its  founders.  We  must  be  con- 
tent with  the  Union  as  they  organized  it.  The 
United  States  Legislature  has  no  more  authority 
beyond  the  enumerated  powers  expressed  in  the 
Constitution  than  with  the  affairs  of  Russia  or 
England.  Their  jurisdiction  is  limited  by  the 
written  charter  under  which  they  assemble — all 
is  expressed,  nothing  implied.  To  attempt  to 
usurp  one  jot  beyond  the  letter  is  to  abrogate  the 
whole  contract,  and  on  their  heads  be  the  conse- 
quences. We  ask  nothing  but  the  Constitution 
as  it  is  written;  beyond  that,  self-preservation, 
the  honest  pride  of  independence,  forbids  us  to 
move  an  inch.  Do  those  who  prate  of  universal 
benevolence  know  that  nothing  is  so  pernicious  as 
to  desert  plain,  explicit,  and  conventional  rules  for 
the  wild  dictates  of  this  undefined  and  imprac- 
ticable pretension  of  empires  and  fanatics?  To 
abandon  a  well-tried  and  practical  union  for  the 
imaginary  boon  which  the  fanaticism  of  the  day 
promises  its  dupes,  is  wild  and  wicked.  It  is  the 
disease  of  prosperity.  It  is  the  besetting  sin  of 
man  never  to  be  satisfied  with  the  actual  blessings 
of  Providence,  when  most  bountifully  bestowed. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         215 

'Jeshurum  waxed  fat  and  kicked.'  This  is  the 
history  of  mortal  gratitude,  written  of  old  time. 
To  attempt  to  tear  down  any  established  govern- 
ment and  build  it  up  better  has,  in  all  ages,  been 
a  fearful  experiment,  and  has  seldom  failed  to  call 
down  upon  those  who  attempted  it  the  horrors  of 
civil  war,  the  tortures  of  the  gibbet,  the  confla- 
grations of  peaceful  habitations,  and  ended  in 
aggravating  all  the  evils,  real  or  imaginary,  which 
led  to  the  effort.  Are  we  not  at  peace  with  the 
world,  prosperous  beyond  every  people  on  earth  ? 
And  yet  fanaticism  is  busily  lighting  her  torch, 
and  demagogues  are  at  work  to  take  advantage  of 
its  baleful  light  to  find  their  way  to  undeserved 
success.  Look  abroad  upon  other  nations  and 
we  find  even  our  unexampled  success  has  proved 
no  precedent  for  the  oppressed  of  other  nations. 
True,  many  a  swelling  heart  has  struggled  to 
deliver  the  victims  of  despotism  from  their  chains 
in  vain.  Their  struggles  have  ended  in  despair. 
The  blood  of  patriots  has  flowed  in  torrents,  to  no 
effect,  and  the  chains  of  despotism  have  been 
strengthened  again.  The  tree  of  liberty  cannot 
be  propagated  by  scions,  however  fresh  from  the 
parent-stalk,  especiaUy  if  inoculated  upon  the 
corrupt  stocks  of  feudal  origin.     But  planted  in 


2i6  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

our  own  virgin  soil,  it  has  spread  its  branches  over 
a  whole  continent  of  freedom.  True  it  is  that  the 
devoted  Pilgrims  who  committed  it  to  our  native 
earth  sheltered  it  for  long  years  of  its  early  growth 
by  their  manly  fortitude  and  often  moistened  its 
roots  with  their  tears  and  their  blood.  Let  the 
traitors  beware  who  would  at  this  day  attempt 
the  unblessed  task  of  blasting  its  foliage  or  laying 
the  axe  at  its  root. 

"All  practical  and  successful  government  has 
been  in  some  degree  the  growth  of  time,  and 
has  been  accommodated  to  the  peculiar  want  of 
those  who  framed  it.  A  more  theoretical  per- 
fection has  never  yet  characterized  any  known 
institutions  of  man.  Can  it  be  hoped  that  the 
dreams  of  enthusiasts,  seconded  by  the  heartless 
aspirations  of  demagogues,  can  ever  frame  a 
system  better  adapted  to  the  American  people 
than  the  one  we  now  enjoy?  We  are  at  least 
under  no  obligations  to  hazard  the  experiment. 
The  differing  character  of  our  population  is  itself 
the  strongest  reason  for  leaving  the  states  uncon- 
trolled in  their  discipline  and  direction.  No  one 
can  manage  his  neighbor's  household  as  will  he 
to  whom  it  belongs.  The  attempt  is  unmitigated 
vanity  and  self-conceit,  and  its  end  is  mischief. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         217 

It  is  a  spirit  that  would  lead  us  into  crusades  to 
liberate  the  serfs  of  Russia,  to  restore  her  nation- 
ality to  Poland,  to  heal  the  wounds  of  bleeding 
Hungary,  to  avenge  the  centuries  of  wrongs  which 
bear  down  the  genius  of  Ireland;  to  succor  the 
wretches  who  toil  in  dreary  mines  and  waste  away 
in  the  crowded  factories  of  England,  and  even 
essay  the  act  of  gallantry  in  restoring  the  beautiful 
victims  of  Turkish  grossness  and  open  the  well- 
guarded  door  of  the  harem;  and,  in  the  mean- 
time, the  North  and  the  South,  the  East  and  the 
West,  would  become  diverted  from  their  avoca- 
tions, and  all  our  present  greatness  and  internal 
prosperity  would  vanish  like  a  fitful  dream.  It 
is  madness  to  attempt  these  fancied  feasts  of  uni- 
versal benevolence.  It  is  impious  to  anticipate 
the  dispensations  of  Providence.  Our  own  coun- 
try, our  own  homes,  our  own  institutions  are  com- 
mitted to  the  various  departments  of  our  own 
government;  let  each  revolve  in  the  sphere 
assigned  to  it  under  the  Constitution,  and  leave 
the  rest  to  Him  who  is  alone  wise  to  direct. 

"Our  people  are  too  wise  not  to  comprehend 
and  too  accustomed  to  seK-defense  not  to  resist 
the  first  attempt  to  invade  their  rights.  We  feel 
no  sympathy  with  the  disorganizers.     Free  soil  is 


2i8  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

a  palpable  cheat;  all  soil  is  free  to  those  who  will 
purchase  or  cultivate  it.  The  true  secret  is  in 
the  sympathy  of  those  whose  war  cry  is,  'Vote 
yourself  a  farm' — subterraneans,  who  only  crawl 
out  at  elections  and  wish  to  get  that  for  their 
votes  which  honest  men  are  content  to  obtain 
by  honest  industry.  We  see  them  stripped  for  a 
fight  at  the  polls,  but  never  at  the  plough  or  with 
the  axe,  which,  if  fairly  wielded,  will  soon  cut 
them  out  a  farm.  This  equivocal  cry  of  free  soil 
is  the  assembly  that  is  to  rally  all  that  is  vicious 
and  indolent  and  reckless,  and  we  must  rely  on 
the  sober  and  industrious  and  moral  to  mthdraw 
their  countenance  and  withhold  their  countenance. 
They  are  incendiaries,  and  we  are  ready  to  arrest 
their  career  and  protect  ourselves.  We  want  no 
change ;  we  will  not  surrender  what  we  hold  under 
the  title  of  the  Revolution  and  the  guaranty  of 
the  Constitution — and  we  hold  all  who  shall  dis- 
turb us  as  enemies,  wherever  they  exist,  and 
recreants  to  their  race. 

"And  now  I  conclude  with  this  sentiment: 

"The  Land  We  Live  in:    The  home  of  our 

choice,  not  of  accident.     Here  in  our  native  land, 

liberated  from  colonial  vassalage  by  the  united 

efforts  of  our  ancestors,  we  have  fixed  our  habita- 


WILLIAM    S.  HASTIE 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         219 

tions  and  garnered  up  our  hearts,  secure  in  the 
sanctions  of  a  common  struggle  for  national  inde- 
pendence and  the  guaranties  of  a  Constitution 
formed  by  our  fathers.  We  will  preserve,  pro- 
tect, and  defend  it  with  the  same  fidelity  from 
foreign  invaders  or  domestic  traitors." 


VIEWS  OF  DR.  OILMAN 

The  next  speaker  is  the  Reverend  Dr.  Samuel 
Oilman,  who  was  one  of  the  most  scholarly  men  in 
South  Carolina  at  the  time.  This  was  also  Dr. 
Oilman's  last  effort  before  the  New  England 
Society  prior  to  his  death  in  1858. 

"The  North  and  South  Poles  of  Our  Country: 
Heaven  grant  that  the  true  equatorial  line  be- 
tween them  may  be  found  right  speedily. 

"I  rise,  Mr.  President,  not  as  a  politician,  but 
as  a  clergyman — an  American — a  man — to  respond 
to  the  sentiment  which  you  have  just  announced. 
The  sentiment,  I  observe,  sir,  is  couched  in  the 
form  of  a  prayer,  and  may  on  that  account  be  sup- 
posed to  appeal  somewhat  to  my  professional 
sympathies  and  sensibilities.  And  truly,  sir,  long 
as  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  addressing  myself  to 
the  Supreme  Disposer  of  the  Universe,  whether  as 


2  20  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

the  public  organ  of  a  religious  congregation  or  on 
my  bended  knees  in  the  retirement  of  domestic 
privacy,  never  have  I  offered  a  petition  to  Heaven 
more  deeply  agonized  with  the  inmost  breathings 
of  my  heart  than  is  my  adoption  of  the  words 
that  have  just  fallen  from  your  lips.  With  intense 
and  painful  anxiety  have  I  watched  the  distrac- 
tions of  our  common,  native  country,  and  wit- 
nessed the  gathering  cloud  that  seems  to  threaten 
her  destiny.  But  amidst  all  the  gloom  and 
alarm  occasioned  by  the  array  of  contending 
parties,  I  cannot  permit  myseh  to  doubt  that 
some  happy  solution  will  '  speedily '  be  discovered 
for  the  difficulties  that  environ  and  perplex  us. 

"Twice,  Mr.  President,  since  you  and  I  have 
resided  in  this  cordial  and  graceful  old  city  of  the 
South,  have  we  seen  the  horizon  as  dark  as  it  is 
now,  and  the  elements  of  general  convulsion  appar- 
ently on  the  point  of  exploding.  But  by  the 
benignant  interposition  of  our  God  and  our 
fathers'  God,  and  the  exercise  of  that  felicitous 
good  sense,  self-restraint,  and  mutual  forbearance 
which,  1  rejoice  to  believe,  essentially  belong  to 
the  American  temperament  and  the  American 
heart,  we  have  seen  our  country's  reeling  bark 
dash    through    the    enclosing    storm-wave    and, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         221 

righting  itself,  soon  regain  its  accustomed  track 
of  steadfast  and  tranquil,  though  mighty,  progress. 

"  It  is  true  that  the  stakes,  issues,  and  questions 
of  those  days,  momentous  as  they  were,  sink 
almost  into  insignificance  when  compared  with 
the  grander  agitations  of  the  present  moment. 
It  is  true  that  the  length  and  the  breadth  of  this 
North  American  continent,  the  control  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  shores,  were  not  then,  as 
they  now  are,  involved  in  the  controversies  that 
shake  and  try  our  Constitution  to  its  center.  But, 
sir,  may  not  the  very  grandeur  and  extent  of  the 
arena  constitute  on  this  occasion  our  safeguard, 
and  may  they  not  by  a  sort  of  blessed  vis  inertiae 
harmonize,  sway,  and  reconcile  the  combatants, 
just  as  the  central  attraction  of  the  great  globe 
itself  draws  to  one  point  and  one  poise  the  most 
variant  tribes  that  move  upon  its  surface  ? 

"Yes,  it  is  impossible  that  this  Union  can  be 
dissolved — this  Union  which  has  begotten  in  the 
breasts  of  all  its  children  a  sentiment  of  mysterious 
and  indestructible  loyalty,  that  has  astonished  the 
world  and  baffled  the  calculations  and  extorted  the 
convictions  of  the  wondering  minions  of  monarchy. 
All  Europe  has  long  been  earnestly  inquiring  what 
is  the  meaning  of  that  secret  influence  in  our 


222  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

institutions  that  calls  forth  from  the  loftiest  as  well 
as  the  humblest  of  our  citizens,  although  they  may 
have  been  born  thousands  of  miles  apart  and 
inhabit  different  climes,  different  zones,  an  en- 
lightened self-devotion  and  a  prompt  obedience 
to  authority,  which  for  beauty  and  power  is  not  to 
be  surpassed,  not  to  be  approached  even,  by  the 
canine  fidelity  of  the  Russian  serf  to  his  emperor, 
nor  by  the  frantic  fanaticism  of  the  oriental  slave 
who  bares  his  neck  to  the  sword  of  a  barbarian 
despot. 

"Yes,  it  is  impossible  that  this  Union  can  be 
permanently  dissolved.  Even  if,  in  a  moment  of 
irritation  and  misunderstanding,  a  separation 
should  be  effected,  depend  upon  it,  as  God  is  true, 
some  method  and  principle  of  reunion  would 
assuredly  be  contrived.  Our  common  general 
origin,  position,  language,  religion,  history,  forms 
of  government,  manners,  civil  laws,  habitudes, 
interests,  necessities,  worn  channels  of  intercourse 
— all  the  categories,  in  short,  so  perfectly  set 
forth  in  Washington's  Farewell  Address — ^must 
crystallize  us  into  a  certain  unity,  whether  poli- 
ticians will  it  or  not,  and  notwithstanding  some 
disparities  in  manners  and  institutions.  The 
steamer,  the  railroad,  and  the  telegraph  only  con- 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         223 

cur  with  and  more  and  more  necessitate  the  action 
of  these  moral  causes.  A  division  would  be  like 
dividing  the  waters  with  your  hand,  only  to  rush 
together  again  in  their  former  channel.  Like  that 
parted  husband  and  wife  of  whom  we  have  all 
heard,  we  should  find  it  intolerable  to  live  asunder, 
and  we  should  prefer  enduring  one  another's 
imperfections,  excitabilities,  and  idiosyncrasies  to 
the  dismal  stagnation  of  existing  on  alone.  There 
would,  there  must,  be  still  some  new  combination, 
some  new  confederacy,  with  new  conditions  and 
guaranties,  it  may  be,  and  so  framed  as  to  avoid 
the  embarrassments  of  the  past.  And  in  sketch- 
ing out  this  result,  I  do  but  reiterate  the  voice  of 
the  past  experience  and  history  of  our  country. 
What  is  our  present  Constitution  itself  but  an 
improvement  wrought  upon  the  old  confederacy, 
such  as  events  and  necessities  unavoidably 
developed  ?  Can  there  be  but  one  stage  in  our 
development  ?  If  we  have  outgrown  the  existing 
Constitution — if  parts  of  the  system  have  become 
tight  beyond  endurance  to  either  portion  of  the 
confederacy — is  there  no  such  thing  as  a  new 
enlargement  and  accommodation  of  the  enfolding 
garment  ? 


224  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"But  we  will  not  look  toward  even  this  alter- 
native. We  will  hope  for  better  things  yet.  We 
still  see  in  our  national  councils  those  giant  spirits 
who  have  piloted  us  in  other  days  through  stormy 
seas,  and  who  have  the  hand  and  the  heart  to  do 
it  again.  So  long  as  Webster,  the  type  and  genius 
of  the  East;  Calhoun,  the  type  and  genius  of  the 
South;  Clay,  the  type  and  genius  of  the  West; 
and  all  three  united,  the  type  and  genius  of  our 
Republic  in  its  happiest  phase — so  long  as  these 
men  have  a  consulting  voice  in  our  destiny,  is 
there  not  a  large  margin  for  hope  ? 

"Therefore,  Mr.  President,  as  I  began  these 
few  remarks  from  your  prayer  as  a  starting  point, 
so  I  am  encouraged  to  close  them  wdth  a  prayer. 
It  is  that  the  Almighty  would  be  pleased,  of  His 
infinite  mercy,  to  visit  this  our  land  with  the  spirit 
of  our  own  Washington,  that  he  would  enlighten, 
direct,  unite,  and  bless  our  rulers  and  legislators, 
that  he  would  carry  to  a  successful  termination 
the  great  experiment  of  self-government  which 
He  has  thus  far  permitted  to  be  here  so  auspi- 
ciously commenced;  and  that  he  would  preserve 
and  perpetuate  our  expanding  union,  so  that  by 
its  powerful  momentum  the  blessings  of  peace, 
virtue,  good  order,  civil  and  religious  liberty,  pure 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        225 

and  undefiled  religion,  may  spread  with  their 
choicest  influences  throughout  the  world. 

"And  now,  sir,  to  make  some  transition  from 
these  solemn  themes  to  the  more  genial  festivities 
appropriate  to  this  occasion,  I  offer  as  a  sentiment : 

"Our  distant  and  absent  friends  and  brethren, 
members  of  this  Society,  together  with  the  sons  of 
the  Pilgrims,  wherever  they  are  scattered  over 
the  land.  Linked  to  them  as  we  are  by  many  a 
friendly  and  kindred  tie,  we  recognize  in  this  wel- 
come anniversary,  next  to  the  Union  of  the  states, 
the  strongest  rivet  to  the  chain." 


OTHER  VIEWPOINTS 

At  the  annual  celebration  in  1859,  two  ad- 
dresses were  dehvered  by  members  of  the  Society 
whose  attitude  was  quite  the  antithesis  of  the  two 
previous  speakers. 

Dr.  F.  M.  Robertson's  response  was  as  follows: 
"I  have  not  been  indifferent  to  the  events  and 
tendencies  which  have  shown  themselves  during 
the  past  year.  It  is  mdeed  a  fundamental  truth 
— as  expressed  in  the  sentiment  from  the  com- 
mittee of  arrangements — that  the  Constitution 
under    which    our    Union    exists    is    a    compact 


226  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

founded  upon  mutual  sympathy  and  good  will 
between  confederated  states.  Now  I  would  ask 
you — I  would  ask  this  assemblage  of  the  descend- 
ants and  friends  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers — ^does  the 
same  mutual  sympathy  and  good  will  exist  now 
that  prompted  the  formation  and  adoption  of  that 
instrument  ?  I  am  sure  you  will  answer,  no !  If 
not,  then,  it  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  the  Union, 
which  it  represents,  is  virtually  abrogated. 

"I  have  long  been  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  the 
Union.  Who,  indeed,  can  deny  that  there  is  a 
romantic  chain  around  Bunker  Hill,  Fort  Moul- 
trie, Lexington,  Camden,  Princeton,  Savannah, 
Monmouth,  King's  Mountain,  Brandywine,  York- 
town,  Bridgewater,  Lundy's  Lane,  New  Orleans, 
and  the  daring  deeds  of  our  gallant  navy  that  bore 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  triumphantly  over  the 
tempest-tossed  ocean?  But,  in  spite  of  all  the 
hallowed  associations,  our  safety  demands  that 
we  should  look  facts  in  the  face.  The  light  of 
these  glorious  beacons  which,  come  what  may, 
will  continue  to  burn  with  unextinguishable 
brightness  but  serves  to  show  more  plainly  the 
indelible  lines  of  alienation  that  are  becoming 
deeper  and  wider  every  day.  Yes,  they  have 
already  been  traced  in  blood.     I  must  speak  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         227 

truth  plainly,  not  in  anger,  but  in  sober  earnest. 
I  have  been  reluctantly  forced  to  the  conviction 
that  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  states 
cannot  longer  progress  harmoniously  under  our 
present  Union.  The  latter  have  too  plainly  and 
unmistakably  declared  that  their  form  of  civili- 
zation is  radically,  totally,  and  irreconcilably 
antagonistic  to  ours.  This  is  the  issue  forced  upon 
us.  We  must  look  it  full  in  the  face,  meet  it  now, 
and  decide  it  now. 

"K  not  out  of  order,  I  will  make  a  professional 
comparison,  which  may  not  be  an  unapt  illus- 
tration of  our  present  condition.  Our  body  politic 
is  evidently  very  sick — ^very  sick  indeed.  Now  I 
propose,  with  your  permission,  making  a  sort  of 
clinical  examination  of  the  patient,  by  which  we 
shall  better  understand  the  case  and  the  grounds 
of  our  diagnosis  as  well  as  prognosis.  The  human 
frame  is  said  to  be  the  perfection  of  mechanism. 
It  is  governed  in  all  its  beautiful  and  symmetrical 
movements  by  a  set  of  nerves  which  spring  from 
within  the  cavity  of  the  cranium  and  spinal 
column.  These  are  distributed  to  all  the  tissues, 
organs,  and  muscles.  These  impart  vitality  to 
every  part.  But,  in  order  to  insure  harmony  of 
action  for  the  common  good  of  all  the  organs, 


228  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

each  of  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  is  independent 
in  the  performance  of  locomotion,  respiration, 
digestion,  the  circulation  of  the  vital  fluids  and 
nutrition,  there  is  another  set  of  nerves  having 
infinite  ramification,  and  which  unite  with  the 
former  and  are  sent  to  aU  the  organs  to  harmonize 
the  action.  This  assemblage  of  nerves  is  most 
appropriately  called  the  'great  sympathetic 
nerve.'  When  any  part  of  the  system  becomes 
deranged,  it  is  by  the  sympathetic  action  of  this 
nerve  that  all  the  other  organs  feel  the  shock,  and 
nature  is  aroused  to  a  united  and  combined  effort 
for  the  restoration  of  health.  A  destruction  or 
disease  of  this  sympathetic  nerve  leads  to  dis- 
orders that  are  fatal  to  the  harmonious  action  of 
the  system;  disease,  decay,  convulsions,  and 
death  are  often  the  results. 

"Upon  this  very  principle  is  our  Union 
founded.  Each  state  is  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent organ,  acting  for  itself;  but  for  the 
mutual  protection  and  the  common  good  all  are 
united  under  the  Constitution,  the  great  sympa- 
thetic nerve  of  the  Union.  This  is  the  seat  of  all 
our  trouble.  The  functions  of  this  great  sympa- 
thetic nerve  have  become  paralyzed  in  some  of 
the  organs  of  the  body  politic,  and  it  no  longer 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         229 

responds  to  that  sympathetic  action  which  is 
essential  to  health  and  harmony.  If  this  derange- 
ment progresses,  of  which  I  have  no  doubt  from 
present  symptoms,  political  inflammation,  con- 
gestion, gangrene,  and  a  final  sloughing  off  of  this 
unhealthy  portion  will  be  the  result.  Then  will 
there  be,  not  only  a  virtual  abrogation  of  the 
Union,  but  its  inevitable  destruction. 

"It  will  probably  be  said  that  I  do  injustice 
to  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  the  non- 
slaveholding  states,  who  are  conservatives.  I 
wish  I  could  be  convinced  that  such  is  the  case; 
no  one  would  make  a  more  ample  and  uncondi- 
tional apology  than  your  unworthy  speaker.  I 
have  many  dear  and  warm  personal  friends  in 
the  non-slaveholding  states  whom  I  esteem  and 
respect  as  highly  as  I  do  those  around  me.  The 
descendants  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  among  whom 
are  some  of  our  best  citizens,  who  are  identified 
with  us  in  sympathy  and  interest,  who  have 
become  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh, 
require  no  eulogy  or  defense  from  me;  we  know 
them  to  be  true  to  their  adopted  state;  nor  do 
I  feel  the  slightest  personal  ill  will  toward  those 
who  do  not  think  with  me  upon  this  great  ques- 
tion.    I  would,  tomorrow — yes,  this  very  night 


230  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

— peril  my  own  best  interest  to  shield  them  from 
a  lawless  mob  or  illegal  prosecution,  believing,  as 
I  do,  that  they  are  the  deluded  victims  of  a 
strange  hallucination. 

"I  know  I  shall  be  pointed  to  the  great  con- 
servative meetings  in  Boston,  New  York,  and 
Philadelphia.  We  have  too  often  seen  the  shadow 
without  the  substance.  We  are  taught,  by  high 
authority,  to  judge  of  the  tree  by  its  fruit.  'Do 
men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles?' 
Such  demonstrations  only  cost  a  little  eloquence 
and  a  few  huzzahs  for  the  Union.  These  con- 
servative meetings,  which  appear  to  be  a  peri- 
odical spasmodic  gasp  in  certain  great  cities, 
and  perfectly  impotent  with  the  masses — they 
cannot  resist  the  torrent.  'Let  us  hear  from  the 
ballot-box.'  Without  the  substance,  these  demon- 
strations are  but  'sounding  brass  and  a  tinkhng 
cymbal.'  The  great  mass  of  the  people  are  anti- 
slavery,  the  majority  anti-slavery  and  Black 
Republican,  and  a  considerable  portion  out  and 
out  John  Brown  and  Garrett  Smith  abolitionists, 
and  all  are  tenduig  to  the  same  pomt.  If  you 
were  to  Usten  to  the  disputes  of  the  doctors  about 
yellow  fever,  you  might  conclude  from  the  argu- 
ments of  some  that  there  was  only  now  and  then 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         231 

a  genuine  case  of  yellow  fever  to  be  found:  they 
call  some  cases  ephemeral  fever,  some  break-bone 
fever,  and  some  acclimation  fever.  But  these  are 
but  different  forms  of  the  same  disease:  all  are 
yellow  fever.  Just  so  with  these  anti-slavery 
men,  Black  Republicans  and  abolitionists — it  is 
all  the  same  disease.  The  only  difference  is  that 
some  have  gone  into  the  black  vomit  stage  a  little 
in  advance  of  the  others.  The  ultra-abolition 
ranks  are  filled  up  from  the  Black  Republicans, 
and  the  Black  Republican  ranks  are  recruited 
from  anti-slavery  men. 

"It  is  a  painful  fact  that,  in  spite  of  these 
repeated  conservative  meetings,  the  abolition 
sentiment  and  party  have  steadily  gained  ground 
from  year  to  year  until,  through  the  ballot-box,  in 
union  with  their  allies,  they  now  control  almost 
every  non-slaveholding  state  and  have  sent  over 
one  hundred  Black  Republicans  to  the  national 
House  of  Representatives,  more  than  sixty  of 
whom  have  endorsed  and  contributed  to  the  cir- 
culation of  a  book  calculated  to  kindle  a  servile 
war  in  every  slaveholding  state.  These  are 
facts.  Can  such  men  legislate  in  that  spirit  of 
mutual  sympathy  and  good  will  which  gave  birth 
to  the   Constitution?    No,   never!  never!    The 


232  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

vital  spark  has  fled.     They  have  virtually  abro- 
gated the  Union  which  it  represents. 

"We  have  stood  by  the  Constitution  in  every 
trial  and  are  still  ready  to  stand  by  it;  but  if  the 
people  of  the  non-slaveholding  states  have  deter- 
mined that  their  form  of  civilization  cannot 
progress  under  the  provisions  of  a  compact  which 
recognizes  and  protects  us  as  slaveholders,  and 
are  ready  to  repudiate  the  Union,  be  it  so.  They 
will  have  a  fearful  problem  to  work  out.  Those 
who  sow  to  the  storm  shall  reap  the  whirlwind. 
We  shall  quietly  organize  as  a  Southern  confed- 
eration, and  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  God  of 
Nations  provide  new  guards  for  our  future  safety, 
and  'hold  them  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind 
— enemies  in  war;  in  peace,  friends.'" 
Colonel  James  H.  Taylor  responded : 
"We  have  chosen  our  habitation  with  the 
people  of  the  South.  Here  we  have  reared  our 
families  and  erected  our  household  gods.  Our 
children,  born  and  educated  here,  know  no  other 
home.  Our  dead  are  mingled  with  the  dust 
beneath  the  magnolia  and  the  pine,  and  all  that 
we  are  and  have  is  bound  up  in  the  welfare  of  the 
South.  We  look  forward — a  gloomy  pall  seems 
to  be  settling  on  our  prospects  and  our  hopes,  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         233 

bearers  of  which  are  our  own  Northern  brethren 
and  friends.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  disguise 
the  fact  that  the  sentiment  of  the  Free  States  is 
hostile  to  our  institutions.  The  leaders  of  some 
of  the  political  parties  of  the  North  have  an- 
nounced that  an  'irrepressible  conflict'  between 
free  and  slave  labor  has  already  commenced; 
business  relations  are  interrupted;  social  inter- 
course has  become  tinctured  with  bitter  feeling; 
Christian  charity  has  lost  its  power  over  the 
hearts  of  many  who  profess  to  be  governed  by 
religious  principles,  and  the  evidence  before  our 
eyes  is  clear  and  unmistakable  that  the  doctrines 
which  have  been  taught  in  the  pulpit,  from  the 
rostrum,  in  Sabbath  schools,  and  by  the  fireside 
— that  slavery  is  a  sin  which  should  be  removed 
from  our  land  by  every  hazard — are  now  produ- 
cing their  bitter  fruit  in  lawless  aggression,  violence, 
and  death.  This  state  of  things  cannot  endure. 
Will  the  conservative  sentiment  of  the  Free  States 
be  able  to  roll  back  the  tide  of  wild  fanaticism 
which  finds  its  root  in  the  conscience  of  a  people  ? 
Never,  for  the  conservatism  itself  is  rotten  at  the 
core.  Not  one,  perhaps,  of  all  those  men  who 
would  thus  sweep  back  the  ocean  of  abolitionism 
with  a  broom  but  are  conscientiously  convinced 


234  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

that  slavery  in  principle  is  wrong  and  that  the 
institution  is  an  evil.  They  do  not — they  can- 
not— stand  on  Southern  ground  in  regard  to  first 
principles;  and  therefore  their  opposition  to  the 
whirlwind  among  them  is  looked  upon  mth  indif- 
ference, if  not  with  contempt.  Let  us  look  back 
a  little,  and  we  find  in  1832  the  first  lecturer — 
one  Arnold  Buffum,  a  Quaker — ^traveling  over 
New  England  and  presenting  his  doctrines  wher- 
ever he  could  procure  a  place  in  which  to  speak. 
He  found  then  no  friend  to  his  cause.  In  many 
instances  he  was  publicly  insulted,  and  nowhere 
was  he  favored  or  followed.  Behold  the  change! 
Abolitionism  has  become  aggressive.  The  pulpit 
and  the  press  in  too  many  cases  are  debauched 
to  its  support.  Fanaticism  has  burst  over  all 
restraint  and  with  headlong  fury  has  dashed  itself 
against  the  sovereignty  of  one  of  these  states  in 
the  wild  hope  that  there  was  no  foundation 
beneath  and  that  our  social  order  and  system 
would  go  down  in  wild  confusion  and  destruction. 
Blood  has  been  shed — that  sacred  thing  hallowed 
in  olden  times  as  a  sacrifice  has  been  poured  out; 
and,  strangest  of  all,  through  the  Free  States 
come  up  on  every  side  notes  of  sympathy. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         235 

"But  I  must  pass  on;  enough  has  been  said  to 
indicate  my  opinions  upon  the  nature  and  tend- 
encies of  the  principles  that  have  brought  about 
the  present  condition  of  things.  BeHeving  that 
aa  '  irrepressible  conflict '  has  commenced  and  has 
almost  reached  itsculmination,  we  must  be  pre- 
pared for  the  crisis,  or  I  would  rather  say  the 
results,  of  these  contending  forces.  There  are 
but  two  alternatives:  the  one  to  remain  in  the 
present  Union,  gradually  yielding  to  the  pressure 
that  is  upon  Southern  institutions  until  these 
shall  be  so  crippled,  confined,  and  smothered  as 
to  perish  by  atrophy,  leaving  the  body  politic 
without  vigor  or  life;  or,  asserting  our  rights, 
assume  the  dignity  of  independent  states,  and 
then  organize  a  government  upon  a  principle 
that  will  recognize  harmony  in  all  conditions  of 
labor  and  under  all  the  arrangements  of  a  wise, 
overruling  Providence. 

"The  first  of  these  alternatives  I  will  not  dis- 
cuss. I  do  not  beheve  there  is  a  person  present 
who  will  give  his  adherence  to  a  course  like  that 
when  he  shall  be  convinced  that  justice  and 
safety  in  this  Union  can  no  longer  be  expected.  I 
invite  your  attention  for  a  moment  to  the  second 
alternative,  intending  to  present  a  few  reasons 


236  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

why  we  may  look  with  hopefuhiess  upon  such  a 
termination  to  our  present  conflict;  and,  in  pass- 
ing, I  desire  to  say  one  word  in  reference  to  the 
intimation  which  has  been  made  more  than  once 
that  if  the  Southern  states  attempt  to  organize  a 
new  repubUc,  they  shall  be  '  whipped '  back,  or,  as 
a  member  of  Congress  expresses  it,  a  division  of 
territory  between  free  and  slave  states  shall  not 
take  place,  as  eighteen  millions  are  fully  able  to 
cope  with  eight  millions. 

"Language  like  this  is  pitiful,  it  is  contempt- 
ible. Neither  section  can  afford  to  go  to  war  on 
this  subject;  but  certain  it  is,  while  the  South  will 
not  attack  the  Free  States  to  force  her  institutions 
upon  them,  all  their  combined  power  can  never 
compel  her  to  rehnquish  one  iota  of  right  or  release 
one  solitary  slave.  But  the  North,  with  aU  her 
wealth  and  population,  can  less  afford  to  go  to 
war  than  the  South.  Peace  at  home  is  of  the 
first  importance  to  a  commercial  and  manufactur- 
ing people,  and  peaceful  markets  abroad  are  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  their  prosperity.  The  dense 
population  of  the  Northern  states  must  be  kept 
employed  or  the  question  of  food  for  the  pauper  ' 
will  ring  in  louder  tones  than  ever.     Granting 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         237 

that  peace  will  follow  the  act  of  separation,  we 
turn  to  our  resources.  It  is  unnecessary  to  com- 
ment upon  the  spirit  and  temper  of  eight  millions 
of  men  whose  ancestors  are  known  in  history  and 
whose  contemporaries  have  added  new  luster  to 
Southern  fame  upon  the  battlefields  of  Florida 
and  Mexico.  Nor  is  it  needful  to  speak  of  the 
four  millions  of  slaves  whose  labor  now  clothes 
the  world;  but  we  come  at  once  to  the  results  of 
this  labor  and  the  power  it  exerts  upon  those  who 
would  dictate  to  us  the  terms  upon  which  we  are 
to  employ  it.  The  parody  upon  Carlyle's  weU- 
known  proverb,  'Cotton  is  King,' is hterally  true, 
and  that  king  has  his  throne  in  the  South.  Of 
the  three  hundred  millions  of  dollars  of  exports 
last  year,  two  hundred  millions  were  of  the  South. 
What  a  power  is  here — a  power  that  can  influence 
exchange  and  finance,  control  importations,  and 
collect  tribute  from  every  nation  under  heaven. 
Even  the  North,  whose  busy  intermeddlers  are 
even  now  pulling  at  the  very  king-post  of  the 
fabric  of  their  own  prosperity,  this  same  North 
depends  upon  us  for  thirty-five  millions  of  dollars 
of  cotton  each  year,  and  for  which  for  so  long  a 
time  we  have  consented  to  receive  in  return  the 


238  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

wares  and  goods  of  her  own  make.  Stop  this 
arrangement.  As  a  Southern  repubhc,  a  new 
order  of  things  must  exist.  The  new  government 
must  be  conducted  on  economical  principles  and 
be  supported  by  a  direct  tax  upon  the  people. 
Our  ports  must  be  open  in  truth  and  fact  to  free 
trade.  This  secures  the  sympathy  of  England 
and  Europe;  our  cotton  goes  with  more  prompt-  j 
ness  because  free  trade  gives  an  opportunity  for  i 
an  immense  market  for  foreign  productions  and 
leaves  our  Northern  neighbors  the  privilege  of 
paying  for  their  cotton  in  gold,  instead  of  in  the 
products  of  their  mills  and  factories." 

THE     ACTIONS     OF     THE     NEW     ENGLAND     SOCIETY 
FROM    i860  TO    1865   INCLUSIVE 

The  annual  celebration  on  Forefathers'  Day, 
December,  i860,  was  not  the  usual  elegant  func- 
tion. The  custom,  which  had  prevailed  for  more 
than  a  generation,  of  having  an  oration  was 
omitted.  However,  a  number  of  short  impromptu 
addresses  were  delivered.  Two  of  these  addresses 
were  of  more  than  casual  interest.  Hon.  James 
B.  Campbell  responded  to  the  toast  ''The  Day 
We  Celebrate."  His  address  dealt  with  the 
sterhng   characteristics   of  the  Pilgrim   Fathers. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         239 

He   also   prophesied   the    indissolubihty   of    the 
Union. 

Mr.  W.  B.  Carhsle  responded  to  the  toast, 
"The  Press."  Mr.  Carhsle  concluded  his  address 
by  stating  that  as  a  native  of  South  Carolina  he 
desired  to  "render  his  acknowledgments  and 
appreciation  for  the  homage  and  affectionate 
allegiance  that  had  been  exhibited  by  adopted 
sons  of  South  Carohna  in  the  whole  course  of  the 
New  England  Society  and  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  evening. 

"The  great  lesson  of  the  day  is,  above  and 
beyond  all  forms  and  details  of  government,  in 
its  sublime  illustration  and  exemplification  of  the 
great  truth  that  no  sacrifice  or  privations  are  to 
be  reckoned  in  comparison  with  self-government. 
Whatever  of  errors  or  evil  has  followed  in  the  foot- 
prints of  the  Pilgrims  or  of  their  misguided 
descendants,  this  great  lesson  is  essentially  and 
eternally  American,  and  knows  no  section  or 
climate. 

"We  may  differ  in  our  application  of  it  to 
details  and  particular  cases  and  sectional  interests, 
but  we  have  not  forgotten  it,  even  at  this  distance, 
in  time  and  place,  from  the  great  event  com- 
memorated on  the  2  2d  of  December.     A  late  event 


240  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

in  South  Carolina  would  mark  the  20th  of  Decem- 
ber with  a  significance  destined  to  grow  in  impor- 
tance at  each  recurrence.  It  could  not  be  expected 
that  any  great  state  movement  would  be  effected 
without  an  actor  representing  New  England.  In 
the  list  of  signatures  affixed  with  determined  and 
deliberate  purpose  to  the  Ordinance  of  Secession 
of  the  20th  of  December,  i860,  there  was  an 
honored  name  of  a  noble  son  of  New  England.  It 
was  a  grateful  privilege  to  recall  to  the  attention 
of  the  New  England  Society  that  this  name  was 
that  of  their  annual  orator,  Chancellor  B.  F. 
Dunkin,  the  faithful  citizen,  pure  patriot,  and 
upright  magistrate." 

The  governor  and  the  lieutenant-governor  of 
South  Carolina  sent  their  regrets: 

"The  Governor  presents  his  best  respects  to 
the  New  England  Society  and  regrets  that 
important  business  occupying  his  attention  pre- 
vents his  acceptance  of  their  polite  invitation  for 
tomorrow  evening.  The  Governor  is  pleased  at 
the  demonstration  of  fidelity  contained  in  their 
note.  Of  this  patriotic  avowal  the  Governor  has 
no  doubt." 

The  lieutenant-governor  wrote : 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         241 

"I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  your 
flattering  invitation  to  be  present  with  you  this 
evening  at  your  anniversary  celebration,  and 
regret  that  a  previous  engagement  will  preclude 
me  from  enjoying  that  pleasure.  Permit  me  to 
offer  you  the  following  sentiment : 

"The  New  England  Society  of  Charleston: 
True  to  the  instincts  of  their  noble  ancestors,  they 
know  the  rights  of  their  inheritance,  and  will  ever 
fearlessly  maintain  them." 

The  mayor  of  the  city  was  present,  and 
felicitated  the  members. 

In  1 86 1  the  members  of  the  New  England 
Society  held  their  annual  meeting  in  December, 
and  at  the  suggestion  of  Hon.  James  B.  Campbell 
dispensed  with  the  annual  dinner,  donating  the 
sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  to  hospitals  in 
Charleston  for  the  benefit  of  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers. 

In  1862  the  Society  held  a  number  of  meetings. 
At  a  meeting  held  January  21,  1862,  a  donation  of 
one  hundred  dollars  was  made  to  the  Ladies' 
Benevolent  Society,  one  of  the  principal  charitable 
organizations  of  Charleston.  This  was  the  last 
meeting  at  which  the  venerable  president,  Mr. 
A.  S.  Willington,  presided. 


242  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

The  Society  met  again  March  25,  1862.  At 
this  meeting,  Otis  Mills  was  elected  president  and 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  appropriate 
resolutions  upon  the  death  of  the  president  of  the 
Society,  which  occurred  February  10,  1862. 

In  a  brochure  published  by  the  New  England 
Society  in  1885,  it  is  stated  that  "no  meetings 
of  the  Society  were  held  during  this  interval, 
March  25,  1862 — December  22,  1865."  This 
statement  is  incorrect. 

The  annual  meeting  was  held  in  December, 
1862.  Resolutions  were  adopted  commemorating 
the  noble  life  and  exalted  character  of  A.  S.  Wil- 
lington,  who  had  served  the  Society  for  fifteen 
years  as  president.  A  number  of  donations  were 
made  to  war  benevolences  and  to  other  charities 
of  the  city. 

In  1863  a  number  of  meetings  were  held. 
January  31,  1863,  a  regular  monthly  meeting  was 
held,  at  which  Mrs.  A.  S.  Willington,  widow  of  the 
late  president  of  the  Society,  was  elected  a  life- 
member.  Mrs.  Willington  joined  the  Society  in 
order  to  assist  in  the  noble  works  of  charity 
which  the  Society  was  doing  at  the  time.  Mrs. 
Willington  was  the  only  woman  ever  elected  to 
membership    in    the    New    England    Society    of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         243 

Charleston.  The  annual  meeting  was  held  in 
December,  1863,  at  which  routine  business  was 
transacted,  officers  elected,  and  the  total  income 
of  the  Society  donated  to  charity. 

In  1864,  the  darkest  period  of  the  War,  no 
regular  meetings  of  the  Society  were  held,  but  it 
is  of  interest  to  note  that  the  committee  on 
charity  continued  the  benevolent  work  of  the 
Society.  Not  only  did  the  New  England  Society 
fail  to  meet  in  regular  session  in  1864,  but  also  a 
number  of  the  other  fraternal  organizations  of  the 
city  were  unable  to  hold  meetings  on  account  of 
perilous  conditions. 

In  1865  the  following  advertisement  appeared 
in  the  Charleston  Daily  Courier  of  December  22: 
"The  members  of  the  New  England  Society  are 
requested  to  meet  this  evening  at  the  Mills  House, 
at  six  o'clock."  The  annual  dinner  was  again 
omitted  and  the  income  of  the  Society  for  the 
year  was  distributed  among  the  worthy  charities 
of  the  community. 

At  the  close  of  the  War,  the  Society  was 
strong  and  active.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
not  a  single  member  resigned  during  the  war 
period.  On  its  membership  roll  were  the  names 
of  many  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  city, 


244  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

such  as:  Messrs.  Robertson,  Williams,  Tucker, 
Johnson,  Lebby,  Tupper,  Webb,  Hastie,  Hayden, 
Robinson,  Pope,  Campbell,  Read,  Street,  Locke, 
Howland,  Richards,  Earle,  Taylor,  Brewster, 
Mills,  Dunkin,  and  others  of  equal  standing  in 
the  community. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  New  England 
Society  during  this  period  of  stress  and  blood 
maintained  its  high  standing  in  membership  and 
in  good  works.  The  reason  the  Society  lived 
and  prospered  during  the  tr3dng  five  years  of  war 
was  on  account  of  its  stainless  record  for  more 
than  forty  years,  and  especially  for  the  reason 
that  the  individual  members  of  the  Society  were 
men  of  high  and  noble  character,  in  whom  the 
community  had  absolute  trust  and  confidence. 

Professor  F.  C.  Woodward,  of  the  South 
Carolina  College,  delivered  an  address  before  the 
Society  at  its  annual  celebration  in  1895,  in  which 
he  interpreted  the  true  spirit  of  the  old  city.  He 
said  in  part : 

"If  my  tongue  were  touched  with  poetic  fire, 
I  might  seek  to  emulate  Wordsworth's  praise 
of  Yarrow  in  a  trilogy  upon  Charleston  unvisited, 
Charleston  visited,  and  Charleston  revisited.     But 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         245 

though  it  is  not  poetry,  it  is  truth  that  to  this  visi- 
tor Charleston  un visited  was  a  joyous  anticipation; 
visited,  a  happy  reaHzation;  revisited,  a  dimac- 
teric  consummation.  'See  Rome  and  die!'  See 
Charleston  and  live! 

''When,  some  years  ago,  I  first  heard  of  the 
New  England  Society  of  Charleston,  I  was  struck 
with  the  apparent  contradiction  of  the  terms  of 
that  title.  It  suggested  such  paradoxes  as  the 
polar  bears  of  the  Sahara,  tobogganing  on  the 
Equator,  wooden  nutmegs  growing  on  the  Pal- 
metto, a  school  of  codfish  storming  the  Battery. 
But  this  superficial  fancy  soon  gave  place  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  title  was  a  pregnant  epigram, 
good  fellowship  that  knows  no  prejudices,  a 
national  solidarity  that  ignores  all  sectionalism. 
So  I  take  it  and  hail  the  omen.  Does  it  not 
mean,  this  leaning  of  the  Pine  to  the  Palmetto, 
that  there  is  room  in  their  hearts  for  their  Southern 
fellow-citizens  and  welcome  at  our  hearts  for  our 
Down-East  brethren  ? 

"There  should  be  a  twin  fraternity:  the  New 
England  Society  of  Charleston  and  the  South 
Carolina  Society  of  Boston;  that  while  we  are 
swapping  turpentine  for  tin  pans  and  cotton  for 


246  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

calico,  we  may  make  generous  interchange  of 
Southern  state  pride  and  genial  hospitality  for 
Northern  thrift  and  national  patriotism." 

THE  CONDUCT  OF  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY  AND 

OF  ITS  MEMBERS  DURING  THE  TRYING  PERIOD 

OF   RECONSTRUCTION 

The  contribution  in  terms  of  service  and  influ- 
ence rendered  by  the  New  Englanders  in  Charles- 
ton more  than  justified  the  confidence  in  which 
they  had  been  held  for  half  a  century  in  South 
Carolina.  It  will  suffice  to  mention  a  few  out- 
standing instances  of  the  loyalty  and  constructive 
activity  of  the  men  who  represented  New  Eng- 
land traditions. 

In  1866  the  Society  celebrated  its  forty-eighth 
anniversary.  Its  president,  Otis  Mills,  had  sold 
practically  his  whole  estate,  consisting  of  the  very 
best  realty  in  Charleston,  and  invested  it  in  Con- 
federate bonds  in  order  to  assist  the  Confederacy. 
The  investment  was  a  total  loss.  James  B. 
Campbell,  the  vice-president  of  the  Society,  had 
been  elected  United  States  senator  by  the  legisla- 
ture of  South  CaroUna.  Both  of  these  patriotic 
citizens  were  born  in  Massachusetts.  Benjamin 
F.  Dunkin,  a  New  Englander,  was  chief  justice  of 
South  CaroUna. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         247 

At  this  meeting,  almost  the  entire  income  of 
the  Society  was  donated  for  the  assistance  and 
comfort  of  Confederate  soldiers  in  the  city  of 
Charleston.  Ten  representative  men,  a  number 
of  whom  had  served  in  the  Confederate  Army, 
joined  the  Society.  During  the  years  immediately 
following  the  Civil  War,  the  membership  became 
larger  and  the  finances  of  the  Society  became 
more  prosperous  than  at  any  time  previously. 
These  facts  emphasize  the  high  esteem  in  which 
the  Society  was  held  in  the  community. 

In  1875  there  came  a  crisis  in  South  Carolina. 
D.  H.  Chamberlain,  a  New  Englander  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  England  Society  of  Charleston, 
was  governor  of  the  state  at  the  time.  The 
judiciary,  which  ex-President  Taft  has  defined  as 
"the  bulwark  of  our  civilization,"  was  threatened. 
The  General  Assembly  of  the  state  elected  to  the 
ofiice  of  circuit  judge  W.  J.  Whipper  and  F.  J. 
Moses,  Jr.  Governor  Chamberlain  refused  to  grant 
commissions  to  these  men.  There  were  two 
reasons  why  the  Governor  refused;  the  first  was 
legal,  the  second  was  moral. 

The  state  constitution  provided  that  "for  each 
circuit  a  judge  shall  be  elected  by  the  General 
Assembly,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  a  term  of 


248  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

four  years."  On  January  18,  1872,  F.  J.  Graham 
was  elected  judge  of  the  first  circuit,  and  John  T. 
Green  was  elected  judge  of  the  third  circuit. 
Their  terms  began  in  August  of  that  year  and, 
under  the  constitution,  ended  in  August,  1876. 
Both  Judge  Green  and  Judge  Graham  died  in 
office.  In  December,  1874,  Colonel  J.  P.  Reed 
was  elected  for  the  unexpired  term  of  Judge 
Graham,  and  in  January,  1875,  ^^^-  Shaw  was 
elected  for  the  unexpired  term  of  Judge  Green. 
The  present  General  x\ssembly,  assuming  that 
the  terms  of  office  of  Judges  Reed  and  Shaw 
expired  in  August,  1876,  when  the  terms  of 
Judges  Graham  and  Green,  had  they  lived, 
would  have  expired,  proceeded  to  elect  W.  J. 
Whipper  as  judge  of  the  first  circuit  and  F.  J. 
Moses,  Jr.,  as  judge  of  the  third  circuit.  This 
action  was  held  to  be  in  direct  conflict  with  the 
constitution,  which  fixes  the  term  of  office  of  cir- 
cuit judge  at  four  years,  so  that  the  terms  of 
Judges  Reed  and  Shaw  did  not  expire  until  1878. 
Another  General  Assembly  would  be  elected  the 
next  November,  and  would  be  in  session  in  1876- 
77,  and  1877-78.  That  General  Assembly,  and  no 
preceding  General  Assembly,  could  elect  judges  of 
the  first  and  third  circuits,  and  the  act  of  the 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         249 

present  General  Assembly  in  assuming  to  elect 
Whipper  and  Moses  was  absolutely  void.  The 
General  Assembly  in  so  assuming  to  elect  rested 
on  the  admitted  fact  that  Judges  Reed  and  Shaw 
were  elected  for  an  unexpired  term  only;  but  by 
a  long  series  of  adjudicated  cases  in  this  state 
before  and  since  the  War  it  was  decided  that  a 
judge,  once  in  office,  no  matter  how  or  upon  what 
condition,  was  in  for  the  constitutional  term, 
which  in  the  present  case  was  four  years. 

The  News  and  Courier  of  December  22,  1875, 
made  the  following  comment  on  the  Governor's 
action : 

"True  to  himseh,  to  his  honest  purposes,  and, 
above  all,  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  Gover- 
nor Chamberlain  has  flatly  and  decisively  decHned 
to  issue  commissions  to  W.  J.  Whipper  and  F.  J. 
Moses,  Jr.,  who  claim  to  have  been  elected  judges 
of  the  circuit  court  of  this  state.  This  action  was 
foreshadowed  when  Governor  Chamberlain  de- 
clared that  neither  Whipper  nor  Moses  had  'any 
qualities  which  approached  to  a  qualification  for 
judicial  positions' ;  that  Whipper  is  incapable  and 
unfit,  and  Moses  is  crusted  over  with  charges  of 
'  corruption,  bribery,  and  the  utter  prostitution  of 
his  official  powers  to  the  worst  possible  uses. '     And 


250  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

it  is  the  proper  and  natural  consequence  of  the 
position  taken  by  Governor  Chamberlain  a  year 
ago  when  he  declared  that  Whipper  had  not  the 
abihty,  the  legal  learning,  or  the  integrity  to  fit 
him  for  the  position  he  sought. 

"It  is  true  that  Governor  Chamberlain  bases 
his  refusal  to  issue  the  commissions  to  Whipper 
and  Moses  upon  the  ground  that  the  present 
General  Assembly  had  not  the  right  to  elect  them, 
for  the  reason  that  the  terms  of  the  present  in- 
cumbents. Judges  Reed  and  Shaw,  do  not  expire 
until  after  the  next  general  election.  But  it  is 
evident  that  Governor  Chamberlain,  under  other 
circumstances,  would  not  have  felt  that  he  was 
justified  in  dechning  to  commission  persons 
whom  the  General  Assembly  had,  whether  right- 
fully or  wrongfully,  elected.  In  his  own  brave 
words,  'while  in  some  cases  presenting  similar 
legal  questions  it  might  not  be  required  of  the 
Governor  to  decline  commissions,  the  circum- 
stances of  the  present  case  compel  me  to  this  course.^ 
Before  him  came  two  persons,  who  demanded 
that  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  officially 
recognize  them  as  the  ministers  and  expounders  of 
that  justice  whose  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God.  One 
of  these  persons  is  known  to  be  a  gambler,  known 


CHARLES    S    VEDDER 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         251 

to  be  illiterate,  and  believed  to  be  a  thief;  and  the 
other  is  known  to  be  a  debauchee,  a  bribe-taker, 
and  shameless  plunderer  of  the  public.  The 
people  were  threatened  with  the  greatest  calamity 
that  has  befallen  any  Southern  state  since  the 
War.  In  this  extremity,  an  extreme  step  was 
necessary.  Governor  Chamberlain  has  taken  that 
step,  and  in  taking  it  he  has  proved,  as  no  other 
act  could  have  proved,  that  no  consideration  of 
self  or  of  party  can  move  him  a  hair's  breadth 
when  the  safety  and  peace  of  the  whole  people  is 
in  peril.  The  persons  whom  he  was  asked  to 
commission  are  of  the  same  political  party  with 
himself.  It  is  certain  that  the  scoundrels  who 
elected  them  will  pour  out  on  the  executive  the 
vials  of  their  wrath.  Governor  Chamberlain 
stands  at  bay,  while  the  Radical  hounds  howl 
around  him.  He  stands  upon  the  Right.  His 
sole  guide  is  his  public  duty.  And  whoever  else 
may  be  against  him,  the  true  people  of  the  state, 
whose  champion  he  is  in  the  hour  of  their  sorest 
need,  will  stand  by  him  to  the  end. 

''Think,  for  a  moment,  of  the  complexion  given 
to  the  election  of  Moses  and  Whipper  by  that 
refusal  to  sign  their  commissions,  which  has  been 
read  with  grateful  satisfaction  this  morning  in 


252  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

every  state  of  the  Union !  It  is  no  longer  possible 
to  say  that  these  two  persons  are  stigmatized 
because  of  their  politics  or  class;  it  is  no  longer 
possible  to  declare  that  the  opposition  to  them  is 
only  the  expression  of  Democratic  hatred  of 
everything  that  is  done  by  Repubhcans.  Gover- 
nor Chamberlain  is  a  New  Englander,  a  soldier  of 
the  Union,  a  Republican  from  his  youth  up. 
Upon  his  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  the  Republican 
cause  there  is  no  stain.  President  Grant  declares 
him  to  be  the  best  governor  in  the  South.  And 
this  Republican  of  the  strictest  sect,  this  Massa- 
chusetts governor  of  South  Carohna,  is  com- 
pelled to  cast  away  from  him  this  Whipper  and 
this  Moses  as  things  so  infamous  and  unclean 
that  they  cannot  and  must  not  stand  before  the 
American  people  as  having  any  recognition  what- 
soever, save  that  which  is  found  in  their  election 
by  persons  of  their  own  character  and  calling. 
This  will  make  the  horrid  story  plain  to  every 
American  citizen.  By  the  first  bold  blow,  the 
fight  is  half  won ! 

"Governor  Chamberlain  has  done  for  the 
people  of  South  Carolina  what  no  other  Hving 
man  could  have  done.  Great  was  his  oppor- 
tunity, and  splendid  is  the  use  he  has  made  of  it. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         253 

To  him  thanks  eternal  for  interposing  the  shield 
of  the  executive  authority  between  the  chieftains 
of  the  robber  band  in  Columbia  and  the  people  of 
the  low  country  of  South  Carolina.  But  there  is 
work  now  for  the  good  people  of  South  Carolina 
to  do.  Governor  Chamberlain  must  be  sustained 
and  promptly,  in  what  he  has  done.  It  must  be 
made  manifest,  and  quickly,  that  the  heart  of 
South  Carolina  is  touched,  and  this  assurance 
can  only  be  given  by  mass  meetings  in  every 
county  in  the  state.  Let  Charleston  begin  the 
work!  Tomorrow  night,  at  latest,  there  should 
be  an  outpouring  of  the  people  of  Charleston  in 
vindication  and  approval  of  the  conduct  of 
Governor  Chamberlain,  and  to  express  the  unfal- 
tering and  immovable  determination  that  the 
men  whom  the  General  Assembly  had  the  audacity 
to  elect,  and  whom  a  Republican  governor  has 
refused  to  commission,  shall  never  administer 
so-called  justice  in  the  courts  of  South  Caro- 
lina.'' 

A  great  mass  meeting  was  held  in  Charleston, 
December  29,  1875.  The  president  of  the  meeting 
was  George  W.  Williams,  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Society.  Four  of  the  vice-presidents  of 
the  meeting  were  also  prominent  members  of  the 


254  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Society.  In  calling  the  meeting  to  order,  Colonel 
B.  H.  Rutledge  said: 

"We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  great  crisis  in  our 
affairs.  We  have  the  safety  of  our  property  and 
our  liberties  and,  it  may  be,  our  lives  at  stake.  A 
blow  has  been  aimed  directly  at  the  very  center  of 
our  civilization.  Our  honor  has  been  trampled 
into  the  very  dust.  Under  these  circumstances, 
it  becomes  us  to  consult  together,  and  further  to 
promulgate  the  result  of  our  deliberations  calmly, 
seriously,  earnestly,  resolutely.  It  is  for  this 
purpose  that  we  are  met  here  tonight,  and  it  is 
proposed  that  this  meeting  organize  immediately 
without  further  preliminaries  under  the  following 
officers,  taken  from  the  most  respectable,  the 
most  influential,  and  the  most  responsible  of  our 
fellow-citizens." 

After  the  meeting  was  organized,  General 
James  Conner,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
citizens  of  the  state,  delivered  the  follomng 
address : 

"I  had  hoped  never  again  to  make  a  political 
speech.  It  is  foreign  to  my  disposition  and  pur- 
suits; but  there  are  occasions  when  private  incli- 
nation must  yield  to  public  duty,  when  every 
citizen  must  consider  the  state  first,  and  himseh 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         255 

last;  and  this,  in  my  judgment,  is  such  an  occasion. 
We  are  brought  by  recent  events  face  to  face  with 
great  issues.  I  am  old  enough  to  remember  many 
eventful  periods  in  the  history  of  this  state;  but  I 
can  recall  not  one  more  momentous  than  the 
present. 

"The  question  is  not  how  you  can  live  here; 
but  whether  you  can  hve  here  at  aU.  You  have 
either  to  redeem  the  state  or  quit  it.  You  must 
make  a  good  government  or  they  will  make  a 
Hayti.  For  one,  I  claim  a  heritage  in  the  state,  [ 
and  I  will  not  be  driven  from  it!  Since  1868  the  ] 
Republican  party  has  ruled  the  state;  no  such  • 
government  has  ever  shocked  the  civilized  world. 
No  people  has  ever  endured  so  much,  so  patiently, 
and  so  long.  We  have  sought  relief  through  con- 
ciliation and  compromise;  and  I  do  not  condemn 
it.  I  say  it  was  well;  for  had  it  not  been  tried, 
there  are  those  who  would  have  said  that  it  was 
the  true  remedy  and  sole  panacea  for  all  this. 
We  have  tried  it  and  demonstrated  by  failure  its 
utter  inadequacy. 

"When  Governor  Chamberlain  stumped  the 
state  in  the  canvass  for  governor,  he  pledged  him- 
self to  reform  and  to  hft  from  the  Repubhcan 
party  of  the  nation  and  the  state  the  odium  and 


256  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

reproach  of  South  Carohna  pohtics.  His  party 
cheered  him  to  the  echo,  and  held  him  forth  as 
their  champion.  But  no  sooner  does  he  attempt 
to  maintain  his  pledged  faith  and  lift  his  party 
from  the  slough  of  corruption  than  they  repudiate 
his  counsels,  defeat  his  plans,  and  crown  their 
infamy  by  a  degradation  greater  than  any  ever 
yet  imposed.  The  election  of  Moses  and  Whipper 
was  the  legislative  answer  to  his  efforts  to  reform 
the  party  from  within. 

"All  that  now  stands  between  us  and  the 
degradation  of  the  bench  is  the  wise  and  bold 
action  of  the  Governor.  He  stands  erect,  bearing 
the  wrath  of  his  own  party,  to  maintain  unbroken 
his  promise  of  reform.  As  he  is  true  to  his  duty, 
let  us  be  true  to  ours  and  stand  firmly  and  unitedly 
by  him  in  support  of  the  right.  It  is  the  path  of 
duty;  it  is  the  path  of  wisdom  and  safety." 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  meeting: 

"We  are  assembled  to  confer  upon  a  condition 
of  affairs  as  grave  as  ever  imperiled  the  peace  and 
weU-being  of  any  community.  The  foundation 
of  society  is  a  pure  judiciary,  and  its  corruption 
or  perversion  to  evil  purposes  destroys  the  last 
hope  of  securing  to  a  people  protection  and  liberty. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         257 

"The  action  of  the  legislature  in  electing  as 
judges  W.  J.  WTiipper  and  F.  J.  Moses,  Jr.,  men  /^ 
whose  proper  place  in  a  courthouse  is  the  criminal's 
dock,  is  an  insult  to  every  honest  citizen,  and  a 
violation  of  every  safeguard  which  the  law  affords 
to  life,  liberty,  and  property. 

''But  this  action  is  not  in  itself  the  full  measure 
of  the  evil  that  confronts  us.  Bad  as  it  is,  its 
graver  aspect  is  in  what  it  signifies.  We  recognize 
in  the  recent  judicial  elections  the  ascendency  and 
control  of  the  worst  element  of  the  political  party 
which  governs  the  state.  Actuated  by  a  relentless 
hate  based  upon  race,  and  stimulated  by  the  pros- 
pect of  'plunder  and  revenge,'  they  have  repudi- 
ated all  restraint  and  inaugurated  a  policy  which 
inevitably  leads  to  the  destruction  of  decent 
government,  ruins  the  material  interests  of  the 
state,  and  imperils  our  very  civilization.  Under 
such  a  condition  of  things,  law  ceases  to  protect 
and  government  itself  becomes  the  oppressor. 

"What  shall  we  do  to  avert  the  destruction 
which  must  surely  result  from  the  consummation 
of  the  policy  thus  inaugurated  ? 

"Since  1868  the  conservative  citizens  of  this 
state  have  put  aside  party  obligations  and  the 
hopes  of  party  ascendency,  have  put  no  party 


258  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

ticket  in  the  field,  but  have  sought  and  hoped  for 
peace  stabiUty  and  pure  government  through  the 
RepubHcan  party.  They  have  striven  not  to 
antagonize  but  to  harmonize  conflicting  races, 
interests,  and  opinions,  patiently  waiting  to 
obtain  as  the  fruits  of  their  forbearances  the 
blessings  of  good  government. 

"In  every  form  in  which  the  effort  could  be 
made,  it  has  been  tried,  and  when,  through  the 
wise,  firm,  and  patriotic  administration  of  Gover- 
nor Chamberlain,  the  end  seemed  about  to  be 
obtained,  a  Republican  Assembly  impatiently 
resents  his  control,  and  with  a  recklessness  born  , 
of  ignorance  and  hate  commits  the  state  to  a 
career  destructive  of  its  peace  and  fatal  to  its 
prosperity.  The  failure  to  obtain  rehef  through 
the  agency  of  the  Repubhcan  party  of  the  state 
is  utter  and  hopeless.  The  responsibihties  and 
obligations  unposed  upon  us  in  this  emergency 
must  be  fearlessly  met. 

"It  is  our  first  duty,  as  citizens  to  whom  the 
character  and  future  of  the  state  are  dear,  earn- 
estly and  solemnly  to  protest  against  the  action  of 
those  who  not  only  have  brought  reproach  upon 
their  own  party,  but  have  endangered  the  very 
foundations  of  our  social  fabric;  and  to  use  every 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         259 

means  to  wrest  from  them  the  power  which  they 
have  so  wantonly  abused. 

''We  deprecate  all  appeal  to  passion  and 
prejudice,  but  it  behooves  us  to  speak  plainly. 
The  attempt  to  place  infamy  and  corruption  in 
the  seat  of  justice  violates  the  primal  instincts  of 
civilized  humanity,  and  to  that  we  will  not  sub- 
mit. The  right  to  justice  and  good  government 
is  one  which  we  dare  not  relinquish. 

"With  no  hostility  to  the  colored  people  of  the 
state,  mindful  of  the  good  conduct  of  those  who 
have  not  been  misled  by  evil  counsels,  we  are 
determined  to  preserve  to  them  every  right  and 
privilege  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  country;  but  the  avowed  purpose  that 
there  shall  not  be  equality  but  a  domination  of 
their  race  over  the  property  and  rights  of  the 
white  people  of  the  state  will  be  resisted  to 
the  last;  and  under  no  circumstances  shall  it 
prevail. 

"We  appeal  to  the  honest  and  intelligent  por- 
tion of  them  who  bear  their  share  of  the  political 
shame,  but  share  no  part  of  the  political  plunder, 
while  there  is  yet  time  to  turn  away  from  the  evil 
counsels  which  are  leading  them  to  a  contest  which 
must  end  in  utter  ruin. 


26o  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

"We  raise  no  political  issue.  'The  issue  rises 
higher  than  the  party,'  and  seeks  the  end  for  which 
parties  are  organized. 

"We  recognize  the  earnestness  and  fidelity 
with  which  a  portion  of  the  Republican  party 
under  the  leadership  of  Governor  Chamberlain 
has  striven  to  establish  a  government  which 
respects  the  rights  and  protects  the  interests  of  all 
the  people  of  the  state.  But  they  have  failed. 
The  worst  elements  of  their  party  have  defeated 
them.  With  confidence  in  their  sincerity,  we  ask 
them  to  continue  their  efforts  and,  without  the 
abandonment  of  political  principles,  to  aid  us  in 
the  attainment  of  a  common  end  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  pure  and  honest  government.  Be 
it  therefore 

^^ Resolved,  That  as  citizens  of  this  state  we 
protest  against  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly 
in  electing  as  judges  men  so  notoriously  corrupt 
as  W.  J.  Whipper  and  F.  J.  Moses,  Jr.,  and  avow 
our  determination  to  resist  it  to  the  end. 

^^ Resolved,  That  we  protest  against  the  con- 
tinuance in  office  of  legislators  so  regardless  of 
duty  and  so  reckless  of  the  character,  the  peace, 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  state,  and  we  wall  use 
every  effort  to  drive  them  from  power. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         261 

^^  Resolved,  That  we  cordially  endorse  the 
action  of  Governor  Chamberlain  in  refusing  to 
issue  commissions  as  judges  to  W.  J.  Whipper  and 
F.  J.  Moses,  Jr.,  and  pledge  to  him  the  full  sup- 
port of  this  community  in  his  efforts  to  secure  to 
the  people  of  the  state  a  faithful  administration 
of  the  law. 

^^  Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  Governor  Cham- 
berlain our  grateful  thanks  for  the  bold  and  states- 
manlike struggle  he  has  made  in  the  cause  of 
reform,  in  the  economical  administration  of  the 
government,  in  the  preservation  of  the  public 
faith,  in  the  equal  administration  of  justice,  and 
in  the  maintainance  of  the  public  peace,  and  we 
pledge  him  our  cordial  support  for  the  accom- 
phshment  of  these  ends." 

The  manly  and  patriotic  action  of  Governor 
Chamberlain  elicited  commendatory  comment 
from  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  entire  country. 
A  limited  number  are  herewith  quoted : 

The  New  York  Herald 

Governor  Chamberlain  of  South  Carolina  seems  to  be 
doing  effective  work  in  opposing  the  corruptionists  of 
that  state,  both  in  and  out  of  the  legislature. 


262  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

The  Boston  Advertiser 

Many  eloquent  speeches  were  made  at  the  banquets 
in  various  cities  Friday  night,  but  to  our  way  of  thinking 
the  most  eloquent  by  long  odds  was  that  dispatch  of  a 
dozen  lines  sent  by  telegraph  from  Colimibia  to  Charleston 
by  the  governor  of  South  Carolina:  "If  there  was  ever  an 
hour  when  the  spirit  of  the  Puritans — the  spirit  of  undy- 
ing, unconquerable  enmity  and  defiance  to  wrong — ought 
to  animate  their  sons,  it  is  this  hour,  here,  in  South 
Carolina."  That  was  spoken  like  a  son  of  Massachusetts 
filled  with  the  grand  courage  of  her  early  days.  Unless 
we  underrate  the  magnanimity  of  the  descendants  of  the 
Huguenots  in  South  Carolina,  they  will  stand  by  this 
descendant  of  the  Puritans  who,  by  force  of  circum- 
stances, is  fighting  their  battle  against  the  deluded  and 
enraged  hosts  of  ignorance.  To  all  appearances,  this  is 
the  crisis  of  affairs  in  that  state,  and  whether  honor  and 
righteousness  triumph  depends  for  the  time  on  the  cour- 
age of  one  man,  who,  in  allegiance  to  his  convictions  of  the 
supreme  importance  in  a  republic  of  an  upright  judiciary, 
has  defied  the  organized  corruption  of  the  state.  There 
is  not  at  the  present  moment  in  the  whole  country  a  more 
splendid  exhibition  of  Puritan  character. 

The  Boston  Globe 

Then  came  the  question  whether  it  was  to  be  a  possi- 
bility to  regenerate  the  state  through  a  regeneration  of 
the  Republican  party.  Governor  Chamberlain  and  his 
supporters  gave  their  most  zealous  efforts  to  measures  of 
reform,  and  there  was  hope  of  a  dawn  of  light  upon  the 
dark  prospects  of  that  much-tried  commonwealth.     But 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         263 

there  were  the  same  elements  there  as  before — ignorance 
and  irresponsibility  under  the  guidance  of  rascality — and 
they  have  been  working  against  the  administration.  It 
seems  that  in  the  election  of  the  present  legislature  they 
prevailed,  and  there  are  threats  of  a  dire  eclipse  of  the 
brightening  prospects  of  the  state.  The  election  of 
ex-Governor  Moses,  Mr.  Whipper,  a  colored  man,  who 
has  proven  himself  an  unscrupulous  leader  among  his  own 
people,  and  Mr.  Wiggins,  whom  a  Charleston  paper 
characterizes  as  "a  drunken  ignoramus,"  to  the  bench  of 
the  Circuit  Court  shows  that  the  forces  of  corruption  are 
again  in  the  ascendant.  In  seconding  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Whipper,  Mr.  Elliott,  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  a 
powerful  leader  of  the  black  politicians,  declared  that  he 
would  "measure  the  republicanism  of  the  members  by 
their  votes  on  that  occasion."  Republicanism  in  South 
Carolina  seems  to  mean  submission  to  these  corrupt  and 
reckless  leaders.  Governor  Chamberlain,  in  a  recent 
interview,  admitted  that  the  effect  of  the  election  of 
these  would  be  to  reorganize  the  Democratic  party  in 
the  state,  and  that  it  would  embrace  the  "good  and 
honest  men  of  South  Carohna." 

Of  course,  the  state  of  things  in  South  Carolina  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  general  principles  or  merits  of  the 
poHtical  parties  of  the  nation.  Where  political  power  is 
lodged  with  an  ignorant  population,  unfitted  for  its 
exercise,  the  unscrupulous  are  almost  certain  to  obtain 
control,  and  the  circumstances  and  experience  of  the 
colored  race  in  this  country  made  it  necessary  for  these 
leaders  to  be  Republicans  in  order  to  gain  their  ends.  It 
is  a  question  whether  it  is  possible  for  the  intelligence, 
the  honesty,  and  the  conscience  of  the  state  to  rule 


264  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

through  either  party,  so  long  as  the  franchise  is  in  the 
hands  of  this  ignorant  mass.  If  not,  that  state  has  got 
the  tribulation  of  misgovernment  to  go  through,  until  its 
colored  population  is  educated  up  to  a  better  compre- 
hension and  a  higher  sense  of  their  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities as  citizens,  or  in  some  measure  deprived  of  them. 
Meantime,  there  are  evidences  that  the  Conservatives 
will  reorganize  and  draw  into  their  ranks  most  of  the 
"good  and  honest  men,"  and  they  ought  to  have  the 
help  of  the  public  opinion  of  the  rest  of  the  country  in 
their  efforts  to  wrest  the  state  from  the  hands  of  its 
plunderers. 

The  Chicago  Tribune 

Governor  Chamberlain,  of  South  Carolina,  has  again 
struck  a  vigorous  blow  for  reform.  The  legislature  of 
that  state  lately  elected  some  notorious  scamps  as  circuit 
judges — Whipper  and  ex-Governor  Moses  among  them. 
The  governor  has  refused  to  issue  commissions  to  these 
two,  basing  his  refusal  on  some  legal  technicality.  It  is 
hoped  that  this  will  save  the  state  judiciary  from  the 
utter  degradation  prepared  for  it  by  the  legislatiu^e.  The 
corrupt  judges  were  elected  by  a  combination  of  all  the 
bad  element  in  the  state.  We  rejoice  that  Governor 
Chamberlain  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  the 
consummation  of  the  bargain.  He  deserves  credit  for 
standing  so  well  by  his  recent  record  of  honesty  and 
intelligence. 

The  Boston  Globe 

Governor  Chamberlain  has  refused  to  sign  the  com- 
mission of  Mr.  W.  J.  Whipper  and  Mr.  Franklin  J.  Moses, 
Jr.,  as  circuit  judges,  on  the  ground  that  the  legislature 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         265 

had  no  right  to  elect  them,  as  the  term  of  office  of  the 
present  incumbents  does  not  expire  until  after  the  next 
legislature  is  chosen.  The  ground  is  a  purely  technical 
one,  but  it  is  a  good  thing  if  any  ground  can  be  found  for 
keeping  these  graceless  political  bummers  off  the  bench. 
There  is  hope  that  the  next  legislature  may  have  more 
sense. 

The  Louisville  Courier- Journal 

This  action  on  the  part  of  Chamberlain  is  promising, 
as  it  gives  some  hope  that  South  Carolina,  the  stronghold 
of  the  black  and  white  carpet-baggers,  will  yet  be  blessed 
with  an  honest  government.  The  character  of  these  men, 
Whipper  and  Moses,  is  despicable  beyond  expression.  It 
is  encouraging  to  know  that  Governor  Chamberlain  has 
determined  to  abate  their  recent  triumph  and  free  the 
judiciary  from  such  disgrace. 

Governor  Chamberlain  was  invited  to  deliver 
the  oration  at  the  annual  celebration  of  the  New 
England  Society  in  1875.  He  w^as  unable  to 
attend,  but  sent  the  following  telegram: 

Columbia,  S.C,  December  22,  1875 
To  the  New  England  Society,  Charleston,  S.C: 

I  cannot  attend  your  annual  supper  tonight,  but  if 
there  ever  was  an  hour  when  the  spirit  of  the  Puritans — 
the  spirit  of  undying,  unconquerable  enmity  and  defiance 
to  wrong — ought  to  animate  their  sons,  it  is  this  hour, 
here,  in  South  Carolina. 

The  civilization  of  the  Puritan  and  the  Cavalier,  the 
Roundhead  and   the  Huguenot,   is  in  peril.     Courage, 


266  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Determination,  Union,  Victory  must  be  our  watchwords. 
The  grim  Puritans  never  quailed  under  threat  or  blow. 
Let  their  sons  now  imitate  their  example! 
God  bless  the  New  England  Society. 

D.  H.  Chamberlain 

In  1878  the  New  England  Society  of  Charles- 
ton and  the  New  England  Society  of  New  York 
exchanged  greetings : 

The  New  England  Society  of  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  to  the  New  England  Society  of  New  York, 
greeting: 

With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let 
us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the 
nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the 
battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphan ;  to  do  all  which 
may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among 
ourselves  and  with  all  nations. 

The  New  England  Society  of  New  York  to 

the  New  England  Society  of  Charleston,  South 

Carohna: 

We  acknowledge  cordially  your  greeting,  and  we 
hope  to  emulate  you  in  a  sincere  desire  to  discharge  our 
duties  as  God  gives  us  light  to  see  them. 

From  a  careful  survey  of  the  facts  in  the  case, 
it  may  be  justly  concluded  that  the  New  England 
Society  of  Charleston  as  an  organization  and  as 
individuals  followed  the  pathway  of  duty,   as 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         267 

they  saw  the  right,  during  the  years  immediately 
preceding  the  War,  during  the  period  of  the  War, 
and  during  the  problematical  epoch  of  recon- 
struction following  the  War. 

Before  the  War,  the  majority  of  the  New 
Englanders  in  Charleston  did  everything  in  their 
power  to  prevent  the  conflict.  During  the  War, 
they  exerted  every  effort  to  alleviate  the  suffering, 
pain,  and  need.  After  the  War,  they  devoted 
their  abiUty,  their  influence,  and  their  energy  to 
bind  up  and  soothe  the  wounds,  to  mitigate 
hatred,  to  promote  honest  government,  and  to 
cement  the  nation  into  a  real  Union. 


268  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 


FAMOUS  DINNERS 

When  Daniel  Webster  visited  Charleston  in 
the  spring  of  1847,  he  referred  to  the  "  City  by  the 
Sea"  as  "the  long-renowned  and  hospitable  city 
of  the  South."  For  more  than  a  century  Charles- 
ton has  been  famous  for  her  charming  hospitality. 
No  other  city  in  the  South  has  attained  such  an 
enviable  reputation  in  the  graceful  art  of  enter- 
taining. It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  among 
the  many  functions  of  a  similar  character  for 
one  hundred  years  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  the 
annual  dinners  of  the  New  England  Society  have, 
by  common  consent,  been  accorded  prandial  and 
post-prandial  pre-eminence. 

The  New  England  Society  was  the  first 
organization  of  the  kind  in  South  CaroHna  to 
co-ordinate  the  two  ideal  features  of  a  banquet — 
the  convivial  and  the  educational.  The  idea 
came  from  New  England,  the  home  of  education 
in  America.  When  the  Society  was  organized,  it 
was  resolved  that  the  annual  celebrations  should 
be  for  good  instruction  and  good  fellowship. 
This  custom  has  become  law  in  the  Society's  life. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         269 

Other  fraternal  and  patriotic  organizations  in 
Charleston  have  emulated  the  good  example. 
More  than  four  hundred  men  of  ability  and  char- 
acter have  deHvered  addresses  before  the  New 
England  Society  of  Charleston  on  Forefathers' 
Day.  The  following  names  are  selected  from 
that  number:  Daniel  Webster,  Judge  B.  F.  Dun- 
kin,  Colonel  B.  F.  Hunt,  Martin  Luther  Hurlbut, 
William  Crafts,  Jr.,  James  L.  Petigru,  Professor 
John  E.  Holbrook,  Reverend  Samuel  Oilman, 
D.D.,  Professor  Charles  Upham  Shepard,  Rever- 
end William  Coombs  Dana,  D.D.,  Charles  R. 
Brewster,  James  B.  Campbell,  Reverend  Charles 
S.  Vedder,  D.D.,  MelviUe  E.  Stone,  William 
Everett,  Josiah  Quincy,  Oeorge  F.  Hoar,  Charles 
F.  Adams,  Justice  David  J.  Brewer,  Professor 
Basil  L.  Oildersleeve,  Oovernor  David  H.  Cham- 
berlain, Henry  Bailey,  Colonel  J.  H.  Taylor, 
Dr.  F.  M.  Robertson,  John  Temple  Craves, 
Governor  Locke  Craig,  G.  Duncan  Bellinger,  the 
Right  Reverend  C.  E.  Woodcock^  D.D.,  the  Right 
Reverend  Wm.  A.  Guerry,  D.D.,  Governor  W.  H. 
Mann,  Dr.  S.  C.  Mitchell,  Dr.  W.  S.  Currell, 
Judge  F.  D.  Winston,  F.  R.  Lassiter,  Reverend 
Paul  Revere  Frothingham,  D.D.,  Reverend  C.  B. 
Wilmer,  D.D.,  E.  J.  Hill,  Patrick  Calhoun,  Judge 


2  70  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

W.  H.  Brawley,  George  S.  Legare,  Professor  Frank 
C.  Woodward,  Judge  G.  W.  Gage,  Joseph  W. 
Barnwell,  Joseph  C.  Gumming,  W.  H.  McElroy, 
the  Very  Reverend  J.  Wilmer  Gresham,  D.D., 
Dr.  J.  A.  B.  Scherer,  J.  B.  Townsend,  Judge  C.  H. 
Simonton,  Reverend  W.  W.  Memminger,  J.  P.  K. 
Bryan,  W.  C.  Miller,  John  Bennett,  Dr.  Harrison 
Randolph,  P.  A.  Willcox,  R.  Goodwyn  Rhett, 
John  F.  Ficken,  George  F.  Von  Kolnitz,  Huger 
Sinkler,  Henry  Buist,  J.  C.  Hemphill,  T.  R.  War- 
ing, P.  H.  Whaley,  Jr.,  and  J.  E.  Hessin. 

The  following  excerpts  from  the  press  and 
the  two  menus  selected  at  random  will  give  an  idea 
of  the  excellence  of  the  annual  celebrations  from 
the  standpoint  of  gastronomic  art  and  of  general 
excellence: 

"Of  all  the  handsome  banquets  and  enter- 
tainments given  in  the  city  of  Charleston  during 
the  year,  the  annual  dinner  of  the  New  England 
Society  is  by  common  consent  awarded  the  palm 
for  brilliancy  and  elegance.  The  prestige  which 
the  dinner  has  attained  is  not  a  local  one  merely, 
for  wherever  the  Society  exists  and  spreads  its 
damask,  the  fame  of  the  deliciousness  of  its 
viands,  the  brilliancy  of  the  company  of  guests 
which  it  collects  together,  and  the  excellency  of 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         271 

the  wit  and  oratory  which   it   calls  forth,   are 
proverbial. 

"The  guests  whom  the  Society  bids  to  its  feasts 
are  selected  from  the  nation's  greatest  men,  with- 
out regard  to  local  political  prejudices  or  geo- 
graphical limitations.  When  the  in\dtations  are 
sent  out — invitations  coveted  by  everyone — they 
go  to  all  quarters  of  the  country.  Any  son  of  the 
country  who  has  honorably  won  an  exalted  place 
in  the  estimation  of  his  fellow-citizens,  no  matter 
what  his  calling  or  profession,  may  receive  one. 
All  great  Americans  cannot  be  invited  the  same 
year,  but  many  of  them  are  bidden  to  each 
dinner,  and,  if  death  does  not  interfere,  each  of 
them,  sooner  or  later,  receives  his  invitation. 
Under  these  circumstances,  there  is  little  wonder 
that  the  reputation  of  these  feasts  should  have 
attained  such  an  honorable  distinction,  even  here 
in  an  old  city,  famous  for  its  banquets  and 
hospitality. 

"There  is  not  one  of  the  many  events  which  are 
commemorated  in  this  city  which  is  celebrated 
and  signalized  with  such  perfection  of  good  taste 
and  such  elegance  of  appointment  as  the  anni- 
versary of  the  New  England  Society.  The  organi- 
zation has  gone  back  into  the  annals  of  American 


272  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

history  for  its  inspiration,  and  has  selected  an  epi- 
sode which  is  invested  with  something  more  than 
the  interest  which  attaches  to  the  most  eloquent 
of  historic  events.  The  landing  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  is  the  motive  of  the  anniversary  celebra- 
tion of  this  time-honored  New  England  Society; 
and  the  day  is  invariably  made  memorable  in 
a  manner  worthy  of  the  spirit  and  enterprise 
and  hardihood  of  the  storm-tossed  pioneers  who 
landed  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  years  ago  on 
Plymouth  Rock.  There  is  something  of  the  his- 
torical justice  of  events  in  the  fact  that  at  this 
day,  the  culture  and  refinement  and  v.dt  and 
patriotism  of  this  city  should  meet  from  year  to 
year  to  revive  the  memories  of  a  day  that  has 
been  embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  the  American 
people  by  the  lapse  of  over  two  and  a  half  cen- 
turies." 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         273 

THIRTY- SEVENTH  ANNIVERSARY  DINNER 

OF   THE 

NEW  ENGLAND   SOCIETY 

GIVEN   AT   THE   MILLS  HOUSE,   CHARLESTON,   S.C. 

DEC.    22,    1856 

Menu 

Oysters  on  Shell 
Soup 
Green  Turtle  Codfish  Chowder  Julien 

Baked  Rock  Fish,  a  la  Chambord 

Salmon,  Anchovy  Sauce 

Leg  of  Mutton,  Caper  Sauce 
Turkey,  Celery  Sauce 

Chickens  and  Pork,  Tongue 
Tenderloin  Beef,  with  Mushrooms 
Ham,  St.  James  Style 

Green  Turtle  Steak,  Madeira  Sauce 
Capon,  with  Trufifles 
Boned  Turkey,  with  Jelly,  in  form 
Pheasants,  en  Belle  Vue 
Chicken,  French  Style 
Patti  de  Volaile,  Decorated 
Bastelleon,  a  la  Moderne 

Cold  Game  Pie,  Lobster  Salad 
Westphalia  Ham,  with  Jelly 
Chicken  Salad 
Patties,  en  Financiere 

Fried  Oysters,  Chicken  Croquettes 
Pork  and  Beans,  Old  Style 
Olives,  Anchovies,  Celery-,  Sardines,  Currant  Jelly 
Cranberry  Jelly,  Lettuce,  etc. 


274  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Baked,  Mashed,  and  Fried  Potatoes 
Sweet  Potatoes,  Asparagus 
Tomatoes,  Spinach,  Rice 
Onions,  Beets,  Turnips 
Croustade  of  Quail,  a  la  Royale 

Chartreuse  of  Partridge,  au  feume  de  Gibiere 
Timbale,  a  la  Parisienne 

Filet  of  Ducks,  Bigorade  Sauce 
Cassolette  of  Rice,  a  la  Reine 
Mutton  Chops,  Neranise 
Supreme  of  Chickens,  with  Truffles 
Salmi  of  Woodcock,  on  form 
Bondins,  a  la  Richelieu,  feume  de  Volaile 
Venison  Steaks,  Currant  Jelly  Sauce 

Oyster  Patties 
Beef,  Turkey  stuffed  with  oysters 
Saddle  of  Venison,  Jelly  Sauce 
Capons,  Saddle  of  Mutton,  Cranberry  Sauce 
Canvasback  Ducks,  Enghsh  Wild  Ducks,  Grouse 
Wild  Turkeys,  Pheasants 
Pyramids  of  Crystallized  Fruits 
Plum  Pudding,  Pumpkin  Pies 
Mince  Pies,  Apple  Pies 
Macaroons,  Mainges 
French  Cakes,  Fancy  Plates 
Madeira  Jelly,  Maraschino  Jelly 
Omelet  Souffle,  Charlotte  Russe 
Vanilla  Ice  Cream 
Oranges,  Bananas,  Apples,  Prunes 

Almonds,  Walnuts,  Pecan  Nuts,  Filberts 

Raisins,  Coffee,  and  Liquors 
Cigars  Cigarettes 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         275 

EIGHTY-THIRD   ANNUAL  DINNER 

OF   THE 

NEW   ENGLAND   SOCIETY 

Given  at  the  St.  John  Hotel 
December  23,  1902 

Menu 

Lynnhaven  Oysters  Sauterne 

Salted  Almonds  Cheese  Sticks 

Clear  Green  Turtle,  aux  Quenelles  Sherry 

Canape  of  Caviar,  a  la  Russe 
Dame  of  Salmon,  a  la  Chambord 
Pommes  Duchesse 
Celery  Sliced  Tomatoes  Cucmnbers  Moselle 

Diamond  Back  Terrapin,  a  la  New  England  Society 
Sweetbreads,  Braise,  a  la  Matignon 
Green  Peas 
Vermont  Turkey,  Chestnut  Dressing,  Cranberry  Sauce 
Candied  Yams         Rice         Asparagus  Points         Claret 
Creme  de  Menthe  Punch 
Roast  Woodcock,  a  la  Gastronome        Champagne 
Lettuce  Salad  Pate  de  Foie  Gras 

English  Plum  Pudding,  Hard  and  Brandy  Sauce 

Mince  Pie  Pumpkin  Pie 

Charlotte  Russe  Biscuit  Tortoni 

Assorted  Fancy  Cakes  Champagne  Jelly 

Nuts  Raisins  Fruits  Apollinaris 

Roquefort  Coffee 

Cigars  Cigarettes 


276  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 

THE  VICTORY  THEATER,   CHARLESTON 

DECEMBER    21,    IQIQ 

AT  8:00  P.M. 

President:  Reverend  William  Way 
Senior  Vice-President:    Charles  W.  Kollock,  M.D. 
Junior  Vice-President:   Samuel  Lapham 
Secretary  and  Treasurer:  Thaddeus  Street 
Committee  on  the  Centennial  Celebration:    Reverend 

William  Way,   chairman;    John   E.   Hessin,   secretary; 

Charles  W.  Kollock,  M.D.;   Samuel  Lapham;   Matthew 

B.  Barkley;  George  W.  Williams;  J.  R.  P.  Ravenel,  and 

B.  H.  Owen. 

ADDRESS   OF   DR.    FRANKLIN  H.    GIDDINGS 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  New  England 
Society,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

In  the  history  of  the  American  people,  there 
has  been  no  event  more  beautiful  in  meaning  or 
of  fairer  promise  than  your  celebration  of  the 
one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  New  England 
Society  in  Charleston. 

The  great  things  in  human  affairs  do  not  come 
with  heralding.    They  do  not  always  come  with 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         277 

observation.  Their  significance  is  seen  at  first 
only  by  those  who  think  deeply  upon  the  course 
of  human  progress,  and  not  until  much  later  on  is 
it  apprehended  by  the  masses  of  mankind. 

As  your  president  has  told  you,  the  early  rela- 
tions between  New  England,  Massachusetts  espe- 
cially, and  the  people  of  South  Carolina  were  fine 
and  helpful.  They  so  continued  from  the  colonial 
period  throughout  the  Revolutionary  War;  and 
during  those  days  of  anxiety  thereafter  which 
John  Fiske  has  called  the  critical  period  in 
American  history,  when  it  was  uncertain  whether 
the  fruits  of  struggle  should  be  preserved.  The 
writers  and  the  public  men  of  these  states  strove 
as  they  and  fellow-soldiers  had  fought,  to  create 
out  of  the  simple  pohtical  elements  of  their  day  a 
free  people  that  should  grow  strong  and  become 
respected  among  the  nations  of  the  world.  They 
were  bound  together  by  ties  of  blood  (these 
states  of  the  North  and  the  South),  by  ties  of 
heritage  and  of  interest.  For  a  time  one  of  the 
great  tragedies  of  human  history  tore  them 
apart,  but  kindly  years  have  healed  their  wounds 
and  reunited  them  in  purpose  and  in  affection. 
Today  once  more  the  people  of  New  England  and 
the  people  of  this  fair  Southland  are  together 


278  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

planning  their  common  future,  as,  a  century  ago, 
together  their  fathers  planned. 

New  England,  which  this  Society  was  founded 
to  revere  and  spiritually  to  reproduce  and  per- 
petuate, has  perhaps  too  long  been  lauded  as^ 
unique  in  the  Providence  of  God  and  the  progress 
of  man.  There  is  truth  in  that  view  and  justice 
in  the  praise,  and  those  of  us  who  are  descended 
from  New  England  ancestry  can  never  lose  or 
deny  our  pride  in  the  work  that  the  Pilgrim  and 
the  Puritan  did.  Yet  it  is  not  wise  to  revert  too 
often  or  to  linger  too  long  upon  achievements  of 
the  past;  and  the  word  that  as  a  New  Englander 
I  bring  to  you  and  offer  tonight  is  that  they  best 
cherish  the  New  England  traditions  and  most 
faithfully  carry  on  the  work  that  the  New  Eng- 
enders of  early  days  attempted  to  do,  who  pro- 
ceed now  as  those  men  proceeded  then — ^who  face 
a  new  day,  forgetting  the  things  which  are  behind 
and  reaching  forth,  as  the  Apostle  said,  unto  those 
things  which  are  before. 

Why  did  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  come  to  New 
England  to  undertake  a  struggle  with  nature  and 
with  man  so  terrible  that  those  who  lived  through 
it  could  visualize  and  interpret  their  survival  only 
in  the  words  of  Edward  Johnson,  of  Woburn,  as 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         279 

"the  wonder-working  Providence  of  Sion's  Saviour 
in  New  England"  ? 

They  came  and  they  endured  because  they 
were  more  than  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  as  the 
men  of  Virginia  were  more  than  Englishmen  and 
the  men  of  South  Carolina  were  more  than 
Englishmen  and  Huguenots.  They  came  and 
they  endured  because  they  were  men  of  western 
Europe,  and  above  all  else  because  they  were 
men  of  modern  and  not  of  medieval  history.  For 
a  time  they  fought  strenuously  against  religious 
doctrines  that  they  regarded  as  heretical.  For  a 
time  they  insisted  upon  uniting  Church  and 
State,  and  they  permitted  voting  only  by  such  as 
were  in  good  standing  in  the  one  recognized 
ecclesiastical  organization.  But  that  was  for  a 
short  time  only.  Exploration  and  an  ever- 
changing  experience  widened  their  vision.  From 
Boston  and  from  Salem  they  traded  and  moved 
"to  the  eastward,"  to  Strawberry  Bank  and  to 
Dover,  to  Cape  Porpoise  and  to  Sagadahock. 
From  Charlestown  and  Dorchester  they  went 
westward  to  Springfield  and  Windsor,  Hartford 
and  Wethersfield,  and  then  again  on,  to  commingle 
with  the  Dutch  in  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk 
valleys.     They  came  here,  to  commingle  with  the 


28o  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Huguenot  strain,  with  its  glorious  traditions  of 
liberty  and  of  courage.  So  began  the  centuries' 
long  march  across  a  continent. 

So  far  as  I  can  gather,  these  men  cherished 
few  regrets  and  gave  little  heed  to  memories. 
Therein  perhaps  they  erred.  It  is  necessary  to 
know  the  past  and  to  heed  its  warnings.  But 
that  was  not  their  task.  Their  task  was  to 
create,  and  they  created;  it  was  to  advance,  and 
they  advanced.  The  greatest  thing  that  they  did 
was  not  to  transplant  religious  and  political  ideas, 
amazing  and  of  priceless  value  as  that  achievement 
was.  The  greatest  thing  that  they  did  was  to 
bring  here  the  spirit  of  men  who  were  prepared  to 
sacrifice  everything  that  men  have  held  dear  in 
order  that  they  might  ever  advance  and  ever 
create.  That  spirit  has  advanced  and  has  created 
to  the  present  day. 

The  America  of  today  is  a  product  of  that 
spirit.  But  it  is  a  product  so  astounding,  the 
America  of  today  is  so  complex  a  thing,  that  we 
ask  ourselves,  What  is  the  Americanism  that  now 
we  demand  one  of  another  ?  What  is  the  ideal  or 
what  the  destiny  for  which  once  more  the  nation 
has  given  sons  and  treasure?  Do  we  know? 
Can  we  conceive  it  ?    Is  it  to  be  something  new, 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         281 

or  only  a  carrying  forward  of  glorious  traditions  ? 
Is  it  to  be  real,  or  only  a  form  of  words  with 
which  to  play  when  we  are  confronted  by  new 
problems,  because  we  must  give  ourselves  the 
satisfaction  of  thinking  that  we  think — of  repeat- 
ing a  formula,  whether  or  not  we  have  a  program  ? 

As  I  study  the  political  ideas  of  New  England 
and  review  the  history  of  a  nation  that  was  born 
of  revolution  and  reborn  of  civil  war,  I  find 
myseK  believing  that  the  substantial  things  of 
Americanism  are  discernible  in  certain  daring 
propositions  that  New  England  put  to  experi- 
mental test. 

New  England  demonstrated  to  her  own  satis- 
faction, she  convinced  America,  and  America 
has  very  nearly  convinced  the  world,  that  four 
momentous  achievements,  undreamed  of  by  the 
ancient  or  by  the  medieval  mind,  are  possible  to 
mankind. 

These  four  tried-out  propositions  are :  one,  that 
it  is  possible  to  educate  the  entire  population  of 
any  civilized  country;  two,  that  it  is  possible  to 
convince  the  entire  population  of  any  civilized 
country  that  it  is  better  to  do  things  by  due 
process  of  law  than  to  do  them  irregularly  and  by 
violence;    three,   that   it   is   possible   to   govern 


282  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

human  affairs  in  a  democratic  way  instead  of  by 
class  rule;  four,  that  it  is  possible  to  confederate 
democratic  states,  as  often  it  was  possible  to  bind 
monarchic  states,  together  in  a  working  whole  for 
the  greater  good  of  the  confederated  peoples. 

The  educational  experiment  New  England 
began  when  for  the  first  time  in  human  history 
she  undertook  by  public  authority  to  extend  ele- 
mentary education  to  all  her  children.  It  was  in 
1647  that  Massachusetts  ordered  that  ''every 
township  after  the  Lord  hath  increased  them  to 
the  number  of  fifty  householders  shall  appoint  one 
to  teach  all  children  to  read  and  write;  and  where 
any  town  shall  increase  to  the  number  of  one  hun- 
dred families,  they  shall  set  up  a  grammar  school, 
the  masters  thereof  being  able  to  instruct  youth  so 
far  as  they  may  be  fitted  for  the  university." 
The  early  experiments  were  slight,  the  results  were 
nothing  great,  but  the  idea  and  the  method  were 
there,  the  intent  and  the  persistence  were  there; 
and  the  common  school,  estabhshed  by  law  and 
maintained  out  of  public  revenues,  has  been  set 
up  in  every  commonwealth  of  this  Union.  It  is 
the  corner  stone  upon  which  is  reared  a  structure 
of  education  that  includes  in  most  states  the  high 
school  and  in  many  the  state  university.     One  of 


I 


I 


WILLIAM    WAY 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         283 

the  accepted  things  of  our  country,  this  New 
England  plan  of  universal  instruction  by  public 
authority  and  at  public  expense  has  now  become 
one  of  the  accepted  things  of  France  also,  and  of 
England.  It  will  soon  be  one  of  the  accepted 
things  of  Italy  and  of  Spain,  of  South  America 
and  of  the  Eastern  world.  I  do  not  suppose  that 
the  most  optimistic  man  in  Boston  two  cen- 
turies ago  could  have  contemplated  the  possibility 
of  a  system  of  elementary  education  maintained 
at  tax-payers'  expense  and  substantially  uniform 
over  a  continent,  to  say  nothing  of  a  civilized 
world.  But  that  is  what  has  grown  out  of  the 
Puritan  Ordinance  of  1647. 

Next  to  our  English  speech  and  its  matchless 
literature,  our  noblest  heritage  from  our  mother- 
land is  our  common  law.  I  do  not  suppose  that 
the  most  optimistic  of  aU  the  men  that  came  to 
colonial  America  could  have  imagined  that  in 
two  and  a  half  centuries  a  population  of  one 
hundred  million  souls,  occupying  a  stretch  of 
continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and 
differing  over  a  thousand  things,  would,  never- 
theless, be  in  agreement  upon  one,  and  that  no 
less  a  matter  than  their  fundamental  scheme  of 
legal  rights  and  public  duties.    Yet  this  has  been 


284  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

achieved,  and  largely,  I  venture  to  think,  because 
New  England,  not  always  law  abiding  herseK, 
nevertheless  from  the  earliest  days  strongly 
believed  and  insistently  taught  not  only  that  it 
is  more  expedient  and  more  self-respecting  to  hve 
within  the  law  and  to  carry  on  a  collective  struggle 
for  existence  in  an  orderly  fashion  but  also  (and 
this  is  my  main  point)  that  it  is  possible  by 
teaching  and  the  pressure  of  pubhc  opinion  to 
make  practically  all  citizens  of  a  democratic  com- 
munity acknowledge  this  civic  principle,  and  to 
make  most  of  them  understand  it.  It  was  a 
bold  faith,  but  has  it  not  been  justified  in  its 
fruits?  Together  with  the  common  school,  the 
tradition  of  legality  and  of  a  social  order  founded 
in  legality,  of  local  liberty  and  rights  of  property 
safeguarded  by  due  process  of  law,  has  become 
one  of  the  things  of  course  in  our  American 
civilization.  And  because  it  has,  we  are  able 
today,  looking  forth  upon  the  social  turmoil  of  a 
depleted  and  distracted  world  and  facing  a  flood 
of  revolutionary  ideas,  without  alarm  or  faltering 
to  say:  "Let  us  hear  every  criticism  of  estab- 
Ushed  institutions  that  the  disaffected  can  think 
of,  but  let  the  disaffected  take  notice  and  remem- 
ber that  the  trying  out  of  their  notions  in  so  far 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         285 

as  they  may  now  or  hereafter  be  put  to  experi- 
mental test  shall  not  be  by  the  methods  that 
were  attempted  of  late  by  the  Boston  poHce,  not 
by  the  direct  action  beloved  of  anarchism,  but 
shall  be  by  due  process  of  law." 

When  New  England  began  experimenting 
with  town  meetings,  democracy  on  the  great  scale 
had  not  existed  in  the  world,  and  throughout 
Europe  it  was  discredited  as  of  doubtful  worth, 
even  in  local  affairs.  New  England  believed 
that  it  could  successfully  be  extended  and  be 
made  both  strong  enough  for  defense  and  en- 
lightened enough  and  just  enough  to  make  men 
free.  Today  a  population  of  one  hundred  million 
souls  is  conducting  its  pubhc  affairs  by  methods 
rooted  in  universal  suffrage,  and  America  is  in 
fact  a  democracy,  as  distinguished  from  class  * 
rule. 

This  proposition,  unhappily,  requires  explana- 
tion. As  my  observation  goes,  the  elements  of 
unrest  in  our  country,  the  anarchistic  and  revolu- 
tionary groups,  and  such  organizations  as  the 
Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  are  ignorant  of 
what  democracy  is.  They  conceive  of  it  either 
as  the  overthrow  of  all  government  or  as  the  sub- 
stitution of  rule  by  the  proletariat  for  the  rule  of 


286  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

a  class-possessing  property.  Most  of  them,  doubt- 
less, think  of  it  as  the  substitution  of  proletarian 
rule  for  capitalistic  rule.  Frankly  they  avow  their 
determination  to  make  the  substitution,  to  destroy 
an  old  order  of  society  by  violent  revolution,  and 
to  set  up  in  place  of  it  a  syndicalistic  communism. 

There  is  this  much  justification  for  their  think- 
ing. Until  America  successfully  experimented 
with  democracy,  every  government  in  the  world 
was  class  rule  of  one  or  another  kind.  It  was  the 
rule  of  a  priesthood,  as  in  Egypt;  or  of  a  powerful 
ecclesiastical  organization,  like  the  Christian 
church  of  the  Middle  Ages;  or  of  a  local  theocracy, 
like  the  earliest  Puritan  group  in  Massachusetts; 
or  it  was  the  rule  of  a  royal  family,  as  all  the 
great  monarchies  have  been;  or  the  rule  of  a  land- 
lord class,  as  feudalism  was;  or  the^rule  of  organ- 
iized  industrial  and  commercial  interests,  as  the 
government  of  England  at  times  has  been;  or  it 
has  been  the  lawless  rule  of  the  proletarian  mob 
or  commune  or  soviet,  as  once  it  was  in  revolu- 
tionary France  and  as  now  it  is  in  revolutionary 
Russia. 

In  distinction  from  every  kind  of  class  rule, 
democracy  is  the  political  organization  of  an 
entire  population.     It  comprises  all  elements,  all 


;  ; 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA    287 

classes,  and  expresses  the  mind  of  all  individuals. 
In  a  democracy  each  duly  qualified  elector  votes 
as  an  individual,  according  to  his  own  intelligence 
and  his  own  conscience,  and  not  as  a  member  of 
a  church,  as  the  first  Puritans  did;  nor  as  a  mem- 
ber of  a  propertied  class,  as  the  people  of  Rhode 
Island  long  did;  nor  as  a  member  of  any  business 
organization,  or  of  a  trade  union,  or  of  any  other 
group  whatsoever.  Democracy  says  that  an 
entire  population  politically  organized  is  greater 
than  any  part  of  it,  and  is  supreme.  By  due 
process  of  law  it  determines  what  persons  may 
vote,  when  they  may  vote,  and  by  what  methods. 
It  declares  that  the  interest  of  the  whole  people  is 
higher  than  the  interest  of  privilege,  a  declaration 
that  the  Bills  of  Rights  of  IMassachusetts  and 
Virginia  made  expUcit;  that  it  is  higher  than  any 
ecclesiastical  interest,  a  declaration  which  the 
federal  Constitution  has  made  explicit;  that  it  is 
higher  than  any  trade,  labor,  or  professional 
interest,  a  declaration  that  Governor  Coohdge 
lately  made  explicit  and  that  the  American  people 
with  unmistakable  voice  have  confirmed.  Such 
is  the  democracy  that  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years  we  have  been  creating  in  America.  Such  is 
the  democracy  that  we  shall  continue  to  develop 


288  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

and  to  protect.  It  is  the  will  of  a  nation,  con- 
scious of  itself,  organized  as  political  power,  and 
deriving  its  authority  from  individual  minds  and 
consciences,  freely  voting  as  they  see  fit. 

Her  fourth  great  social  experiment  (fourth  in 
logical  enumeration  but  chronologically  earlier) 
New  England  ventured  when,  in  1643,  ^^  dark 
hours  of  Indian  war,  the  four  colonies  of  Plymouth, 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven 
bound  themselves  to  one  another  in  a  league  of 
representative  democracies  as  the  United  Colonies 
of  New  England.  Within  this  confederation  the 
four  constituent  members  were  of  equal  power,  1 
but  war  expenses,  it  was  agreed,  should  be 
apportioned  according  to  the  number  of  male 
inhabitants  in  each  colony,  a  compromise  that 
was  destined  to  become  the  corner  stone  of  our 
federal  Constitution.  And  this  league  was  for 
more  than  war,  as  appears  in  the  highly  signifi- 
cant further  agreement  that  the  judgments  of  the 
courts  of  law  and  probates  of  wills  in  each  colony 
were  to  receive  full  faith  and  credit  in  every  other. 

That  New  England  league  endured  for  fifty 
years.  It  was  the  model  from  which  Benjamin 
Franklin  in  1754  drew  the  outhnes  of  his  plan  for 
a  union  of  all  the  colonies,  which,  twenty  years 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA         289 

later,  was  achieved  in  the  Revolutionary  con- 
federation. From  the  elements  of  the  confedera- 
tion Hamilton  and  his  co-workers  wrought  the 
enduring  structure  of  our  federal  Constitution. 

Let  us  admit  that  there  were  weaknesses  in 
that  great  instrument.  It  left  vital  questions 
unanswered.  Back  of  it  lay  differences  of  thought 
and  of  tradition,  and  of  economic  interest,  which 
divided  South  from  North.  And  so  it  came  to 
pass  that  only  through  sorrow  was  understanding 
reached,  and  only  by  the  dice  of  war  was  made 
decision  upon  which  a  future  could  be  built.  The 
decision  was  accepted.  The  Constitution,  strong 
and  elastic,  as  time  has  proven,  is  the  compre- 
hensive political  organization  of  forty-eight  com- 
monwealths, among  which  is  distributed,  as  their 
population,  an  indivisible  American  people.  It 
is  the  organization  of  our  co-operation,  and  it  has 
enabled  us  to  do  marvelous  things.  Need  we  say 
more  of  it  than  that,  under  its  authority  and 
within  its  powers,  a  nation  unprepared  for  war 
was  able  within  one  year  to  draft,  equip,  and 
drill,  and  send  across  the  seas,  a  fighting  army  of 
two  million  men  ? 

With  these  four  experiments  before  us,  we,  the 
American  people,  with  our  inheritance  of  common 


290  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

and  commingled  blood,  of  one  language  and  of 
one  literature,  of  one  legal  tradition,  and  sharers 
in  a  glorious  history,  face  a  future  full  of  the  most 
perplexing  problems  that  ever  have  vexed  the 
soul  of  man.  We  shall  be  told  that  it  is  useless  to 
try  to  uplift  the  human  race,  that  the  task  is  too 
great,  too  costly,  and  too  discouraging,  that  some 
men  of  each  breed  can  be  educated,  but  not  all. 
We  shall  be  told  that  it  is  impossible  to  solve  all 
problems  by  due  process  of  law;  that  law  is  slow, 
not  always  just,  not  always  practical;  and  that 
there  are  times  when  the  conscientious  man  must 
ask  himself  whether  he  will  be  bound  by  the 
letter  of  the  law  or  not.  We  shall  be  told  that 
democracy  is  impractical,  a  dream,  a  vision  not 
to  be  realized  in  a  world  of  human  beings  that 
are  by  no  means  all  men  of  character,  by  no 
means  all  men  of  intelligence.  And,  finally,  we 
shall  be  told  that  already  the  nations  are  too 
large,  and  political  organization  unwieldy.  Why, 
then,  we  shall  be  asked,  dream  of  a  federation  of 
the  world?  How  believe  that  by  a  league  of 
nations  war  can  be  prevented  ? 

The   answer   to   these   objections   and   these 
questions  is  simple  and  it  is  this:    these  things 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        291 

were  dreams,  once.  But  dreamed  they  were, 
three  centuries  ago ;  and  the  dreaming  fired  imagi- 
nation and  imagination  quickened  thought.  Of 
thought  experiment  was  born,  and  generation  by- 
generation  successful  experiment  has  made  con- 
verts, until  today  we  of  the  New  England  strip 
may  challenge  the  world  to  show  that,  in  all 
human  history  from  its  beginnings  in  Egypt  and 
in  Babylonia  down  to  the  present  hour,  any  other 
four  ideas  have  in  the  same  length  of  time  won  as 
many  converts  or  achieved  so  much. 

Why,  then,  lose  faith?  Why,  then,  of  all 
people  in  the  world,  should  we  of  America  lose 
faith,  as  from  time  to  time  we  keep  the  anniver- 
saries of  our  inheritance  ? 

I  never  see  one  of  our  tall  steel  buildings  rising 
skjrward  without  finding  myseK  contemplating  in 
fascination  its  essential  structure.     What  is  it  ? 

That  structure  is  a  towering  frame  of  steel,  it  is 
a  thing  of  posts  and  girders  bolted  and  riveted. 
The  enclosing  walls  of  brick  are  but  a  mere  pro- 
tection from  the  weather.  They  support  nothing; 
they  are  supported.  Between  the  floors  are  put 
coarse  fireproofing  materials,  cinders,  cement, 
and  gravel.     And  when  the  floors  are  laid  and 


\ 


292  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

the  steel  is  walled  in,  all  manner  of  things  go  into 
the  interior.  There  are  put  tiling,  and  wood 
that  is  but  tinder,  then  paint  and  varnish.  But 
the  paint  and  the  varnish  are  not  the  structure. 
The  inflammable  wood  is  not  the  structure.  The 
coarse  materials  between  the  floors,  the  walls  of 
brick,  are  not  the  structure.  The  structure  is 
that  riveted  frame  of  steel. 

Into  the  building  of  our  nation  has  gone 
tempered  steel,  steel  smelted  in  human  suffering 
and  rolled  in  the  disciplining  miUs  of  God.  It  is 
the  tested  steel  of  the  character,  the  intelligence, 
the  faith,  of  Englishmen,  of  Scotchmen,  of  Hu- 
guenots, of  Hollanders — character,  intelligence, 
and  faith  selected  from  all  the  world  for  strength, 
for  daring,  and  for  endurance.  Of  that  steel  are 
the  posts  and  the  girders  of  the  framework  of  our 
nation,  bolted  by  hardship  and  riveted  by  war. 
Revolution  may  rock  it.  It  may  sway  in  the 
wrath  of  political  storm.  Earthquakes  of  calam- 
ity may  shake  it,  or  the  red  flare  of  anarchism  may 
sear  it.  But  fires  will  die  down,  the  storm  will 
abate,  revolutions  will  fail,  and  our  structure  of 
steel  will  stand  in  its  majesty  throughout  cen- 
turies to  come,  as  it  has  stood  through  the 
centuries  that  are  passed. 


y 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        293 

THE  CENTENNIAL  DINNER 

CELEBRATED    AT    THE    ST.    JOHN    HOTEL 
DECEMBER    22,    7    P.M. 

Stewards:  Christian  J,  Larsen,  chairman;  Wilham 
H.  Cogswell;  and  Benjamin  I.  Simmons. 

THE   SPEAKERS 

Reverend  William  Way 

Professor  FrankHn  H.  Giddings,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Reverend  Loring  W.  Batten,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Colonel  James  Armstrong 

J.  Rion  McKissick,  Esq. 

W.  S.  Currell,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

J.  W.  Barnwell,  Esq. 

THE   GUESTS 

Rear  Admiral  F.  E.  Beatty,  U.S.N. ;  Major  General 
H.  G.  Sharpe,  U.S.A.;  Professor  F.  H.  Giddings,  Columbia 
University,  New  York;  Rear  Admiral  E.  A.  Anderson, 
Commandant  of  the  Charleston  Navy  Yard;  Brigadier 
General  J.  D.  Barrett,  U.S.A.;  The  Reverend  Dr.  L.  W. 
Batten,  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  New  York; 
Dr.  W.  S.  Currell,  president  of  the  University  of  South 
Carolina;  Dr.  Robert  Wilson,  Jr.,  dean  of  the  Medical 
College  of  South  Carolina;  F.  C.  Peters,  collector  of  the 
port  of  Charleston;  Robert  Lathan,  editor  of  the  Charles- 
ton News  and  Courier;  T.  R.  Waring,  editor  of  the 
Charleston  Evening  Post;  J.  R.  McKissick,  editor  of  The 
Piedmont,  Greenville,  South  Carolina;  Colonel  James 
Armstrong;   P.  A,  Willcox,  Esq.,  general  solicitor  of  the 


294  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

Atlantic  Coast  Line  Railroad;  Surgeon  Edgar  Thompson, 
U.S.N. ;  M.  Rutledge  Rivers, president  of  the  St.  Andrew's 
Society;  W.  Turner  Logan,  president  of  the  Hibernian 
Society;  Commander  O.  L,  Cox,  U.S.N. ;  Commander 
J.  W.  Woodruff,  U.S.N. ;  Colonel  O.  J.  Bond,  super- 
intendent of  the  South  Carolina  Military  College; 
L.  K.  Legge;  Major  Alfred  Huger;  Captain  M.  M. 
Ramsey,  U.S.N. ;  Commander  R.  E.  Pope,  U.S.N. ; 
Colonel  Glen  E.  Edgerton,  U.S.A.;  J.  W.  Barnwell; 
W.  C.  Miller;  Julian  Mitchell;  W.  C.  Wade;  Stewart 
Cooper;  Lieutenant  Commander  Lorain  Anderson, 
U.S.N. ;  E.  H.  Pringle,  Jr.,  vice-president  of  the  Bank  of 
Charleston;  J.  D.  Lucas;  Jenkins  M.  Robertson;  E.  W^il- 
loughby  Middleton;  Samuel  Lapham,  Jr.;  David  Bar- 
field;  G.  F.  Lipscomb;  J.  Campbell  Bissell;  M.  S.  Cray- 
ton;  John  Strohecker;  Wilbur  L.  Rodrigues,  and  J.  M. 
Whitsitt. 

THE   MEMBERS   OF   THE    SOCIETY 

G.  J.  Cherry  W.  B.  Metts 

H.  C.  Gill  H.  P.  Williams 

F.  K.  Myers  Chas.  W.  KoUock,  M.D. 
W.  K.  McDowell  J.  R.  Pringle 

G.  F.  von  Kolnitz  J.  H.  Young 
J.  E.  Hessin  T.  T.  Hyde 

F.  M.  Robertson  J.  D.  Newcomer 

C.  M.  Benedict  L.  W.  Hickok 

H.  F.  Walker  M.  B.  Barkley 

J.  R,  Simmons  J.  E.  Smith 

J.  E.  Martin  M.  Triest 

H.  W.  Lochrey  W.  H.  Cogswell 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        295 


C.  F.  Middleton 
A.  J.  Geer 
Wm.  M.  Bird 
Chr.  J.  Larsen 
Thaddeus  Street 
Samuel  Lapham 
Henry  Buist 
John  D.  Fletcher 
J.  L.  Hacker 
Frank  Burbidge 

A.  C.  Connelley 
Chas.  Robertson 
J.  E.  Cogswell 
Jas.  S.  Simmons 

B.  I.  Simmons 
A.  McL.  Martin 
A.  O.  Halsey 

J.  R.  Hanahan 
G.  W.  Williams 


J.  R.  P.  Ravenel 
W.  H.  Dunkin 
M.  V.  Haselden 
Lloyd  Ellison 
Wm.  Burguson 
J.  N.  Schroder 

A.  E.  Baker,  M.D. 
W.  P.  Carrington 
T.  W.  Passailaigue 
W.  B.  Wilbur 
Theo.  J.  Simons 

B.  H.  Owen 
Reverend  William  Way 
Thaddeus  Street,  Jr. 

J.  S.  Rhame,  M.D. 
Phineas  Kent 
John  C.  Simonds 
E.  N.  Wulbern 
E.  E.  Quincy 


Congratulatory  greetings  were  received  from 
the  New  England  Society  of  New  York,  the  New 
England  Society  of  Brooklyn,  the  New  England 
Society  of  Pennsylvania,  the  New  England  Asso- 
ciation of  California,  Dr.  Nicholas  Murray  Butler, 
Colonel  J.  C.  Hemphill,  Honorable  R.  G.  Rhett, 
and  Dr.  Yates  Snowden. 

The  governor  of  Massachusetts  sent  the 
following  letter: 


296  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF    MASSACHUSETTS 
EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT 

State  House,  Boston,  December  17,  1919 

Reverend  William  Way,  President 
New  England  Society 
Charleston,  S.C. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Way: 

Your  very  kind  invitation  to  attend  the  banquet  cele- 
brating the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  your  Society  is 
received,  for  which  I  thank  you.  I  should  especially  be 
pleased  to  visit  Charleston.  The  early  colonial  and  revo- 
lutionary history  of  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina 
was  very  marked  by  their  co-operation  with  each  other 
and  it  is  my  sincere  desire  that  this  ancient  friendship  and 
co-operation  may  always  remain.  There  is  more  and 
more  a  tendency  to  forget  our  location  and  remember 
that  we  are  all  Americans.  This  should  not,  however, 
diminish  the  pride  that  New  England  has  in  its  achieve- 
ments, nor  the  pride  that  South  Carolina  has  in  its  own 
glorious  history.  If  your  Society  can  convey  to  your 
fellow-citizens  in  Charleston  the  sentiment  of  high  regard 
which  we  here  feel  for  them,  you  will  be  performing  a 
most  patriotic  service. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Calvin  Coolidge 

The  following  is  an  editorial  written  by  Robert 
Lathan  and  published  in  the  Charleston  News  mid 
Courier  J  December  24,  1919: 


OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA        297 

A   WORTHY   CELEBRATION 

The  centennial  exercises  just  completed  by  the  New 
England  Society  of  Charleston  have  been  in  all  respects 
worthy  of  the  Society's  high  aims  and  splendid  traditions. 
Professor  Giddings  said  at  the  Victory  Theater  Sunday 
night  that  in  his  judgment  the  completion  of  its  hundredth 
year  by  a  New  England  Society  in  Charleston  is  one  of 
the  most  striking  facts  in  American  history.  Mr.  Mel- 
ville E.  Stone,  of  the  Associated  Press,  following  the  visit 
which  he  paid  to  Charleston  some  years  ago  when  he 
was  the  principal  speaker  at  one  of  the  New  England 
annual  dinners,  declared  that  the  fact  that  this  Society 
continued  its  existence  throughout  the  war  between  the 
states  and  that  without  the  loss  of  a  single  member,  was 
to  his  mind  a  singularly  impressive  thing.  This  was  the 
only  New  England  society  in  the  South,  it  is  interesting 
to  learn,  which,  having  been  founded  prior  to  the  war 
between  the  states,  outlasted  the  struggle. 

There  are  many  notable  features  about  the  history  of 
the  New  England  Society  of  Charleston.  The  book 
which  Mr.  Way  has  written  concerning  it  will  unquestion- 
ably be  an  exceptionally  valuable  contribution  to  the  social 
history  of  this  community.  In  the  hundred  years  of  its 
existence  the  New  England  Society  of  Charleston  has 
included  in  its  membership  many  of  the  men  whose 
names  and  records  are  numbered  by  the  discerning  as 
Charleston's  richest  possession.  Its  leaders  have  been 
leaders,  many  of  them — not  only  in  Charleston,  but  in 
the  nation — in  literature,  in  science,  in  art,  in  theology, 
in  government,  and  in  business. 

IMr.  Joseph  W.  Barnwell  in  his  brief  remarks  at  the 
dinner  Monday  evening  suggested  that,  so  far  as  he  knew, 


298  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  SOCIETY 

the  New  England  Society  was  the  first  organization  of  its 
kind  in  Charleston  to  bring  to  this  city  distinguished 
speakers  from  a  distance  for  its  annual  affairs.  In  the 
half-century  and  more  that  this  custom  has  obtained, 
some  very  great  men  have  spoken  under  the  auspices  of 
the  New  England  Society  here  and  some  very  memorable 
utterances  have  been  delivered.  Daniel  Webster  in  the 
height  of  his  fame  welcomed  the  opportunity  to  speak  on 
one  of  these  occasions,  and  in  later  years  men  like  William 
Everett,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  and  George  Frisbie  Hoar 
came  to  Charleston  at  the  invitation  of  the  New  England 
Society  that  they  might  bring  here  messages  which 
echoed  throughout  the  South  and  the  nation. 

The  New  England  Society  of  Charleston  has  every 
right  to  be  proud  of  the  record  it  has  made  for  itself  in 
the  first  century  of  its  existence.  It  can  and  should  play 
an  even  larger  part  in  the  affairs  of  this  community  and 
section  in  the  years  that  lie  ahead. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Act  of  Incorporation,  6 
Adams,  Charles  F.,  269,  298 
Adams,  Rev.  W.  H.,  23 
Agassiz,  Louis,  140 
Aiken,  William,  190 
Allston,  Washington,  iii 
Alston,  Governor,  28 
Anderson,  Lorain,  294 
Anderson,  Rear  Admiral  E.  A., 

293 
Andrews,  Loring,  37 

Appleton,  Dr.,  75 
Armstrong,  Col.  James,  293 

Bailey,  Henry,  190,  204,  269 

Baker,  A.  E.,  295 

Barfield,  David,  294 

Barkley,  Matthew  B.,  276,  294 

Barnwell,  J.  W.,  85,  270,  294,  297 

Barnwell,  Robert  W.,  77 

Barrett,  Brigadier  General  J.  D., 

293 
Batten,  Rev.  Loring  W.,  293 

Beach,  E.  M.,  189 

Beatty,    Rear    Admiral    F.    E., 

293 
Beech,  Darwin,  45 
Bellinger,  G.  Duncan,  269 
Benedict,  C.  M.,  294 
Bennett,  Col.  A.  G.,  164 
Bennett,  James  Gordon,  39 
Bennett,  John,  270 
Benson,  John  H.,  5 
Bernard,  Horace,  5 


Bethune,  George,  113 

Bird,  Wm.  M.,  295 

Bishop,  Samuel  N.,  5 

Bissell,  J.  Campbell,  294 

Bond,  Col.  O.  J.,  294 

Boston  Advertiser,  262 

Boston  Globe,  262,  264 

Boston  Palladium,  37 

Bowen,  Rev.  C.  J.,  98 

Bowen,  Right  Rev.  Nathaniel, 

29,  184 
Brawley,  Judge  W.  H.,  270 
Brewer,  David  J.,  269 
Brewster,  Charles  Royal,  16,  151, 

269 
Bridge,  Matthew,  5 
Brown,  Mary,  159 
Bryan,  George  S.,  175 
Bryan,  J.  P.  K.,  62,  175,  269 
Buffum,  Arnold,  234 
Buist,  Henry,  270,  295 
Buist,  John  Somers,  170 
Bunce,  Lydia,  77 
Burbidge,  Frank,  295 
Burguson,  Wm.,  295 
Butler,    Dr.    Nicholas    Murray, 

29s 

Calhoun,  P.  C,  56,  269 
Camp,  A.  Burnett  Rhett,  72 
Campbell,  James  B.,  20,  47,  131, 

238,  241,  246,  269 
Campbell,  Rev.  John,  47 
Carlisle,  W.  B.,  239 


301 


302 


INDEX 


Carolina  Coffee  House,  1,22 
Carrington,  W.  P.,  295 
Centennial  Celebration,  276,  293 
Chadwick,  Samuel,  s 
Chamberlain,  Gov.  D.  H.,  247, 

249, 269 
Charity,  Committee  on,  10,  16 
Charleston  Daily  Courier,  i,  13, 

21,  29,  38,  loi,  III,  188,  243 
Charleston  Mercury,  77 
Charleston  News,  21,  45 
Charleston    News    and    Courier, 

152,  166,  173,  249,  296 
Charleston  Port  Society,  9 
Cheney,  E.,  Jr.,  5 
Cherry,  G.  J.,  294 
Cheves,  49 
Chicago  Tribune,  264 
Child,  James  L.,  5 
Christian  Examiner,  80,  83,  99 
Circular  Congregational  Church, 

36 
City    Gazette    and    Commercial 

Advertiser,  2 
Civil  War,  211 
Clarke,  Joseph,  5 
Climacteric  year,  i860,  212 
Cogswell,  J.  E.,  29s 
Cogswell,  William  H.,  293,  294 
Coit,  Jonathan,  5 
Cole,  Rev.  John  T.,  16 
Cole,  Rev.  Jonathan,  12,  16 
Confederate  Home  and  College, 

61 
Confederate  Memorial  Day,  73 
Connelley,  A.  C,  295 
Conner,  Henry  Workman,  142 
Conner,  Gen.  James,  254 
Cooper,  Steward,  294 
Cox,  O.  L,,  294 


Crafts,  William,  5,  6,  8,  27,  84 
Crafts,  William,  Jr.,  29,  84,  269 
Craig,  Gov.  Locke,  269 
Crayton,  M.  S.,  294 
Crocker,  Doddridge,  4,  6,  8,  18, 

32,  189 
Crocker,  Francis  Shaw,  3,  5 
Gumming,  Joseph  C,  270 
Currell,  Dr.  W.  S.,  269,  293 

Dalcho,  Dr.  Frederick,  38 

Dana,  Dr.  Daniel,  146 

Dana,  Rev.  William  Coombs,  13, 

146,  269 
Davis,  Jefferson,  50 
Dawkins,  Thomas  N.,  190 
Dehon,    Right   Rev.   Theodore, 

27,  184 
Depew,  Chauncey,  62 
Dinners,  Famous,  268 
Distinguished  members,  75 
Dodd,  George,  5 
Donations,  Special,  12 
Duggan,  I.  C,  11 
Dunkin,  Benjamin  F.,  5,  18,  19, 

22,  99,  122,  152,  240,  246,  269 

Dunkin,  W.  H.,  295 

Edgerton,  E.  W.,  16 
Edgerton,  Col.  Glen  E.,  294 
Edwards,  Timothy,  5,  8 
Eggleston,  George  W.,  5 
Eggleston,  John,  5 
Elliot,  Stephen,  77 
EUison,  Lloyd,  295 
Ehnore,  F.  H.,  190 
Epiphany,  8 
Episcopal  Church,  181 
Everett,  Edward,  99 
Everett,  William,  269,  298 


INDEX 


303 


Faneuil,  Mary,  113 
Ficken,  John  F.,  270 
Finley,  William  P.,  190 
Fleming,  D.  F.,  16 
Forefathers'  Day,  72,  106,  115, 

177,  238,  269 
Forster,  Rev.  Anthony  M.,  79, 

80,  104 
Foster,  Nathan,  5 
Franklin,  John,  56 
Fraser,  Alexander,  32 
Fraser,  Mary,  32 
Frothingham,  Rev.  P.  R.,  269 
Furness,  Horace  Howard,  78 

Gage,  Alva,  156 

Gage,  Judge  G.  W.,  269 

Geer,  A.  J.,  295 

Gibbes,  George,  s,  6,  8 

Gibbon,  George,  5 

Giddings,  Dr.  Franklin  H.,  276, 

293,  297 
Gilchrist,  Judge  R.  B.,  189 
Gilchrist,  R.  G.,  163 
Gildersleeve,  Dr.  Basil  L.,184,  269 
Gill,  H.  C,  294 
Gilliland,  W.  H.,  163 

Gilman,  Rev.  Samuel,  97,  loi, 
219,  269 

Gilman,  Zadock,  5 

Goodwin,  John,  5 

Graham,  F.  J.,  248 

Graves,  John  Temple,  269 

Grayson,  William  John,  Jr.,  96, 

190 
Green,  John  T.,  248 
Gresham,  Very  Rev.  J.  Wilmer, 

270 

Guerry,  Right  Rev.  William  A., 
i8r,  269 


Hacker,  J.  L.,  295 

Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  112 

Halsey,  A.  O.,  295 

Hamilton,  James,  190 

Hampton  Legion,  170 

Hampton,  Wade,  55 

Hanahan,  J.  R.,  295 

Harvard,  Fair,  109 

Haselden,  M.  V.,  295 

Hastie,  C.  Norwood,  57 

Hastie,  William  Smith,  56 

Hayden,  A.  H.,  14,  16 

Hayne,  Robert  Y.,  203 

Hemphill,  J.  C.,  270,  295 

Hessin,  J.  E.,  270,  276,  294 

Hickok,  L.  W.,  294 

Hill,  E.  J.,  269 

Hoar,  George  F.,  269,  298 

Holbrook,  John  E.,  137,  269 

Holland  Society  of  New  York, 
61 

Holmes,  J.  E.,  190 
Hopton,  Sarah,  27 
Howard  Association  of  Charles- 
ton, 61 
Howe,  Silas,  5 
Howland,  Benjamin  J.,  134 
Huger,  Major  Alfred,  294 
Huger,  Benjamin,  7,  49 
Huguenot  Church,  63 

Hunt,    Benjamin   Faneuil,    113, 
189,  192,  212,  269 

Hurlbut,    Martin    Luther,     75, 
269 

Hurlbut,  Major-General  Stephen 
Augustus,  83,  154 

Hurlbut,  William  Henry,  83 

Hutchinson,  T.  L.,  190 

Hyde,  T.  T.,  294 


304 


INDEX 


Jackson,  President  Andrew,  48 
Jones,  Henry  J.,  5,  6 
Jones,  Wiswall,  5 

Kent,  Phineas,  295 
Kollock,  Charles  W.,  276,  294 
Kolnitz,  G.  F.  von,  270,  294 
Ku  Klux  trials,  176 

Lafayette,  112 
Lapham,  Samuel,  276,  295 
Lapham,  Samuel,  Jr.,  294 
Larsen,  Christian  J.,  293,  295 
Lassiter,  F.  R.,  269 
Lathan,  Robert,  293,  296 
Lebby,  Dr.  Robert,  13,  14,  16,  17 
Legare,  George  S.,  269 
Legare,  Hugh  S.,  48,  85 
Legg,  L.  K.,  294 
Leland,  David  W.,  5,  18 
Lipscomb,  G.  F.,  294 
Lochrey,  H.  W.,  294 
Logan,  W.  Turner,  294 
Lovell,  Josiah  S.,  5,  8 
Lowndes,  William,  84 
Lucas,  J.  D.,  294 

McAllister,  M.  Hall,  190 
Macbeth,  Charles,  163,  164 
McDowell,  W.  K.,  294 
McElroy,  W.  H.,  270 
McKissick,  J.  Rion,  293 
Magnolia  Cemetery,  13,  15,  23, 

62 
Mann,  Gov.  W.  H.,  269 
Manning,  Joseph,  5,  6 
Martin,  A.  McL.,  295 
Martin,  J.  E.,  294 
Maxwell,  Robert,  8,  12 
Mayflower,  22,  212 


Memminger,  Rev.  W.  W.,  270 
Metts,  W.  B.,  294 
Middle  ton,  Arthur,  27 
Middleton,  C.  F.,  294 
Middleton,  E.  WiUoughby,  294 
Miller,  \V.  C,  270,  294 
Mills  House,  45 
Mills,  John,  45 
Mills,  Otis,  44,  242,  246 
Minott,  Baxter  O.,  5 
Mitchell,  Julian,  294 
Mitchell,  Dr.  S.  C,  269 
Monroe,  President  James,  2,  in 
Morford,  Margaret,  78 
Morris  Island,  165 

Morse,    Samuel    Finley    Breese, 

no,  113 
Moses,  F.  J.,  247,  260 
Moultrie,  Fort,  165 
Myers,  F.  K.,  294 

National  Academy  of  the  Arts 
of  Design,  112 

New  England  Society  of  Brook- 
lyn, 295 

New  England  Society  of  Charles- 
ton: actions  of,  from  i860  to 
1865,  238;  centennial  cele- 
bration, 276;  centennial  din- 
ner, 293;  date  of  organiza- 
tion, 1-4;  dedication  of 
monument,  22;  dinner  in 
honor  of  Daniel  Webster, 
188;  eighty-third  annual  din- 
ner, 275;  orator  of  1908  at, 
211;  original  members,  5; 
other  sons,  184;  reconstruc- 
tion, 246;  sixty-first  anni- 
versary, 70;  thirty-seventh 
anniversary,  273 

New  England  Society  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  4,  266, 
295 


INDEX 


305 


New  England  Society  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 29s 

New  Orleans  Commercial  Bulle- 
tin, 143 

New  York  Drawing  Association, 
112 

New  York  Herald,  261 

New  York  Tribune,  98 

New  York  World,  83 

Newcomer,  J.  D.,  294 

Noble,  Patrick,  6 

Norris,  Edward  J.,  16 

North  American  Review,  99 

Ogier,  Dr.  T.  L.,  138 
O'Neall,  John  B.,  189 
Ordinance  of  Secession,  240 
Owen,  B.  H.,  276,  295 

Page,  Thomas  Nelson,  28 
Parish,  Daniel,  5 
Passailaigue,  T.  W.,  295 

Patriot  and  Commercial  Adver- 
tiser, I,  2 

Peabody,  George,  31 

Peabody,  Rev.  Samuel,  98 

Pelzer,  Francis  J.,  28 

Percival,  Dr.  James  G.,  150 

Perkins,  Daniel,  5 

Perry,  Gov.  B.  F.,  150 

Peters,  F.  C,  293 

Petigru,  James  L.,  49,  190,  207, 
269 

Pinckney,  Castle,  165 

Pinckney,  Rev.  C.  C,  174 

Pinckney,  General  Thomas,  112 

Pletcher,  John  D.,  295 

Plummer  Granite  Company,  15, 
16 

Plymouth  Rock,  3,  17,  22,  272 

Poinsett,  49 


Pope,  R.  E.,  294 
Porter,  Martha  F.,  166 
Potter,  L.  T.,  16,  143 
Prentiss,   Miss   Washington    S., 

130 
Presbyterian  Church,  56,  60 
Prescott,  George  W.,  5 
Presidents,  The,  25 
Pringle,  E.  H.,  Jr.,  294 
Pringle,  J.  R.,  294 

Quincy,  E.  E.,  295 
Quincy,  Josiah,  269 

Ramsey,  M.  M.,  294 

Randolph,  Dr.  Harrison,  270 

Ravenel,  Daniel,  190,  276 

Ravenel,  J.  R.  P.,  295 

Read,  John,  5,  16 

Read,  John  R.,  168 

Reed,  John,  5 

Reed,  Col.  J.  P.,  248 

Reynolds,  Right  Rev.  Ignatius 
Aloysius,  190 

Rhame,  J.  S.,  295 

Rhett,  R.  B.,  190 

Rhett,  R.  Goodwyn,  270,  295 

Rice,  William,  189 

Richards,  Frederick,  14 

Rivers,  Rutledge,  294 

Robertson,  Charles,  295 

Robertson,  Dr.  F.  M.,  225,  269, 

294 
Robinson,  Philip,  5 
Rodrigues,  Wilbur  L.,  294 
Russell,  Alicia,  27 
Russell,  Rev.  John,  26 

Russell,  Nathaniel,  3,  5,  12,  18, 
22,  25 

Russell,  Sarah,  27 


3o6 


INDEX 


Rutledge,  Col.  B.  H.,  254 
Rutledge,  Harriott  Pinckney,  137 

St.  Andrews  Society,  24,  188 
St.  Cecilia  Society,  2,  27 
St.  Michael's  Church,  32,  45 
St.  Philip's  Church,  43 
Sassure,  General  de,  72 
Savage,  Arthur,  5 
Scherer,  Dr.  J.  A.  B.,  270 
Schroeder,  J.  N.,  295 
Sharpe,  Major-General  H.  G.,  293 

Shepard,  Prof.  Charles  Upham, 

148,  269 
Silliman,  Prof.  Benjamin,  148 
Simonds,  John  C,  295 
Simmons,  Benjamin  I.,  293,  295 
Simmons,  J.  R.,  294 
Simmons,  Jas.  S.,  295 
Simons,  Theo.  J.,  295 
Simonton,  Judge  C.  H.,  270 
Sims,  William  Gilmore,  12 
Sinkler,  Huger,  270 
Smith,  J.  E.,  29s 
Snow,  Albert,  11 
Snowden,  Dr.  Yates,  295 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  2 
Southern  Review,  86 
Spanish- American  War,  176 
Sparks,  Rev.  Jared,  104 
Sprague,  Roswell,  5 
Stone,  Melville  E.,  211,  269,  297 
Storey,  Joseph,  209 
Street,  Thaddeus,  276,  295 
Strohecker,  John,  294 
Stuart,  John  A.,  77 
Sumter,  Fort,  50,  165 

Tahnage,  Dr.  DeWitt,  174 
Talmage,  Van  Nest,  172 


Taylor,   Col.   J.   H.,   189,   232, 
269 

Thayer,  Isaac,  5 

Thompson,  Edgar,  294 

Thwing,  Edward,  12 

Townsend,  J.  B.,  270 

Triest,  M.,  294 

Tunno,  Adam,  27 

TumbuU,  R.  J.,  83 

Tyler,  Joseph,  5 

Union  Committee  of  South  Caro- 
Una,  48 

Unitarian  Church,  78,  99 

Unitarian  Defendant,  80 

van  Dyke,  Dr.  Henry,  175 
Vedder,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Stuart, 
3,  II,  23,  54,  57,  60,  269 

Wade,  W.  C,  294 
Walter,  Jerry,  5 
Warring,  T.  R.,  270,  293 
Washington  Light  Infantry,  84, 

105 
Way,  Henry,  74 
Way,  WiUiam,  276,  293,  295 

Webster,  Daniel,  48,   188,   269, 

298 
West,  Benjamin,  no 
Whaley,  Percival  Hanahan,  180 
Whaley,  P.  H.,  Jr.,  270 
Wheeler,  Henry,  5 
Whipper,  W.  J.,  247,  260 
Whitsitt,  J.  M.,  294 
Wightman,  Louisa  A.,  166 
Wilbur,  W.  B.,  295 
Willcox,  P.  A.,  293 
Williams,  George  Walton,   159, 

163,  253,  276,  29s 
Williams,  H.  P.,  294 


INDEX 


307 


Willington,  A.   S.,  5,  6,  8,   12, 

18,  24,  37,  loi,  188,  241 
Willington,  Mrs.  A.  S.,  242 
Willington,  Josiah,  37 
Wilmer,  Rev.  C.  B.,  269 
Wilson,  Dr.  Robert,  Jr.,  293 
Winston,  Judge  F.  D.,  269 
Winthrop,  John,  22 
Winthrop,  Joseph,  3,  5,  6,  18,  31       Young,  J.  H.,  294 


Winthrop,  Robert  C,  31 

Woodcock,   Right    Rev.   C.   E., 
269 

Woodruff,  J.  W.,  294 

Woodward,  Prof.  F.  C,  244,  269 

Woodward,  Thomas  G.,  5 

Wulbern,  E.  N.,  295 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 

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Kj^S^oc. 


Form  L-P 
25m -2, '43(5205) 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

||l|||i  ijii  iij  I  i||ii  i|  |i|ii|iii  I  mill  I  nil  II 


AA    000  525  152    5 


